Paris, 6 October 2020 - “Today we are accelerating our commitment for the planet with an ambitious reduction of our environmental footprint in European cities. DPDgroup will invest €200 million by 2025, contributing to a better quality of life in 225 cities all over Europe.” Boris Winkelmann, Chairman & CEO of GeoPost / DPDgroup.

By 2025:

• 225 green cities^[1] rolled out in 20 countries
• 80 million inhabitants delivered with low-emission delivery solutions^[2]
• 7,700 alternative delivery vehicles deployed (electric, natural gas, cargo bikes, etc.)
• 89% reduction in carbon emissions and 80% in pollutants achieved in cities concerned by this initiative

 Details in appendix 1 and in map attached

Green delivery in 225 European cities by 2025

DPDgroup has announced its commitment to deliver 225 of the largest European cities with zero- and low-emission delivery means.

Urban transport of goods is responsible for up to 30% of CO₂ emissions in cities. Particle emissions from urban freight transport make up 50% of all emissions found in urban contexts. Atmospheric pollution, the primary source of which is road traffic, is suspected to shorten life expectancy by 15 months for those living in cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants (2018 European Air Quality report by the European Environment Agency). It is for these reasons that DPDgroup has targeted the largest cities of Europe for the start of this initiative.

This ambition relies on a new delivery model DPDgroup has been trialing in many cities throughout Europe for several years now.
Thanks to this experience, DPDgroup has re-thought the way it operates last mile delivery by implementing micro and urban depots as well as appropriate alternative delivery solutions. Many initiatives have already been implemented by DPD in cities such as London, Hamburg, Warsaw and Dublin, and more recently by Chronopost in Paris, the first European city fully delivered with low-emission solutions starting late 2019. The programme announced today represents the acceleration of a pan-European ambition finding its roots in the know-how and expertise gained from the first cities where these initiatives were implemented, translating to more than 260 million parcels or 17% of the Group’s volumes over time.

"Conscious of our responsibility to the planet and its people, we aim to be the most sustainable delivery company in Europe. While DPDgroup has its part in climate change issues, we also have our role to play in the solution! With this in mind, we’ve decided to act pragmatically by reducing our emissions in cities with the highest populations,” explains Boris Winkelmann.

• 89% reduction in carbon emissions and 80% in pollutants within the cities concerned by these initiatives

By 2025 DPDgroup will reduce its last mile carbon footprint rigorously in the cities targeted, decreasing its CO₂ emissions by 89% and pollutants^[3] by 80% compared to 2020.

“Our long-term objective is to build on this first ambitious plan of deploying zero- and low- emission delivery solutions in the 225 largest cities of Europe in order to become fully CO₂-free in our last mile activities within the next 20 years,” concludes Boris Winkelmann.

• 7,700 new alternative vehicles and 80 new urban depots 

To achieve the ambition of 225 green cities, DPDgroup will deploy 7,700 new alternative vehicles, 3,600 charging points and 80 new urban depots. These initiatives represent an investment of €200 million in total by 2025.
New alternative fleets will be composed of various vehicles, depending on the city centre (size of streets for example), delivery needs and regulation constraints. Electric vehicles (MAN eTGE, Volkswagen eCrafter, Nissan eNV-200, etc.), small electric vehicles (Tripl, Paxter, etc.) and natural gas vehicles will be deployed along with cargo bikes and bicycles, pedestrian means and trolleys.

The launch of 80 new micro and urban depots will help to further optimise delivery processes, local operations adaption and customer proximity. These will roll out in main city centres such as Basel, Barcelona, Berlin, Budapest, Munich, Marseille, Prague and Warsaw, hence complementing the current network of 130 urban depots in cities including Dublin, London, Madrid, Paris and Rotterdam.

Acting for green delivery – DPDgroup’s long-standing ambition

Since 2012, DPDgroup has been committed to responsible delivery through its Corporate Social Responsibility programme DrivingChange^TM inherent to its identity and actions. From an environmental perspective, DPDgroup has implemented several initiatives with its various stakeholders in mind. More information is provided in appendix 2.

"Acting for green delivery has been a long-standing ambition for us at DPDgroup. We are actively diminishing our carbon footprint with green delivery solutions we will have rolled out to 225 European cities by 2025. The objective is to be the partner of choice for customers and city authorities, helping them in their sustainable development programmes and jointly making a better planet, because we all share the same address,” states Boris Winkelmann.

^[1] Delivering 225 major European cities with low-emission means by 2025.

^[2] Cities covered account for 80 million inhabitants to whom DPDgroup will deliver parcels with low-emission means.

^[3] Such as Particulate Matters (PM), Carbon Monoxide (CO), and Nitrous Oxides (NOx).

Appendix 1: Cities in which DPDgroup will deliver with low-emission means by 2025 

Appendix 2: Acting for green delivery is DPDgroup ambition for years

Since 2012, DPDgroup has been committed to responsible delivery thanks to its Corporate Social Responsibility programme DrivingChange^TM inherent to its identity and actions. From an environmental perspective, DPDgroup has implemented several initiatives with its various stakeholders in mind.

• Reducing CO₂ emissions per parcel by 30% for all by 2025:
  Two years ago and already aware of the carbon impact associated with its business model, DPDgroup made the commitment to reduce its CO₂ emissions by 30% per parcel by 2025 (vs. 2013 emissions). Brand new ambition to green deliver 225 major European cities will bring DPDgroup a step further, with an expected impact of 7.1% reduction on its first and last mile CO₂ emissions. The roll-out of low-emission deliveries in all major cities of Europe complements DPDgroup’s other environmental initiatives aiming at diminishing its impact such as: 
  - Increasing the share of green electricity consumption in buildings to 80% by 2025;
  - Constantly renewing heavy duty truck fleets to ensure these vehicles lie within an average age of 5 years;
  - Optimising transport networks through better planning and higher loading rates.

• Carbon neutral commitment for all customers at no extra cost as early as 2012:
  

  DPDgroup has been reducing its impact on climate change by pursuing its sector-leading, carbon neutral commitment since 2012, thanks to a three-step approach:
  - Measuring its carbon footprint;
  - Reducing CO₂ emissions per parcel (-14% in 2019 vs. 2013);
  - Offsetting the remaining emissions through investment in emission-free energy production programmes. DPDgroup’s carbon offsetting is voluntary and not tax-exempt; DPDgroup holds no equity investments in the projects supported.

• Air quality monitoring programme for city officials and citizens:

  Since the end of 2019, DPDgroup has implemented a programme aimed at deploying sensors^[4] fixed on its fleet of vehicles, urban depots and Pickup points, measuring air pollution levels, such as fine-grained particles PM2.5 in real-time.
  In order to help improve quality of life and health in cities, DPDgroup is making the results of its air quality monitoring programme available to cities and citizens through a web-based interface called Air Diag.
  The air quality monitoring programme is active in five European cities: after the pilot cities of Lisbon, Paris and Madrid in 2019, London and Rotterdam have recently been included in this initiative. DPDgroup aims at deploying this data-collection means in 20 European cities by 2021.

DPDgroup’s environmental commitment is being promoted in 21 European countries^[5] via a digital communication campaign called "We all share the #SameAddress." For six weeks starting on 16 September 2020 and during the European Sustainable Development Week^[6], the campaign is currently broadcast on social media and local major audience platforms. The full campaign may be found here: https://www.dpd.com/group/en/sustainability/ and on social media with the hashtag #SameAddress (Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram).

^[4] Pollutrack sensors monitoring PM 2.5 air pollution levels in real time

^[5] Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom

^[6] 20-26 September 2020

About DPDgroup

DPDgroup is the largest parcel delivery network in Europe.
DPDgroup combines innovative technology and local knowledge to provide a flexible and user-friendly service for both shippers and shoppers. With its industry-leading Predict service, DPDgroup is setting a new standard for convenience by keeping customers closely in touch with their delivery.
With 77,000 delivery experts and a network of more than 46,000 Pickup points, DPDgroup delivers 5.3 million parcels each day – 1.3 billion parcels per year – through the brands DPD, Chronopost, SEUR and BRT.
DPDgroup is the parcel delivery network of GeoPost, which posted sales of €7.8 billion in 2019. GeoPost is a holding company owned by Le Groupe La Poste.