En route to sustainable logistics November, 2022 ft_nov2022-1.jpg At this very moment, millions of tonnes of freight ar

[訪客]

En route to sustainable logistics

At this very moment, millions of tonnes of freight are being transported on trucks, ships, planes, and trains to keep our global economy running . And though a shipload of recent shocks – pandemic lockdowns, shortage of drivers and dock workers, a freak blockage of the Suez Canal, to name the major ones – snarled up supply chains temporarily, the volume and value of global cargo has recovered. In 2021, both surpassed pre-Covid levels.
The question now is how to ensure that this circulation of goods can be made not just resilient, but also sustainable for the planet.
Currently, freight transport generates some 8 per cent of global greenhouse gases, and up to 11 per cent when warehouses and ports are included. Emissions are expected to grow in tandem with increasing trade, driven by growth in e-commerce and developing markets in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. At current rates, freight volumes are estimated to nearly triple by 2050 compared to the 2015 level . This means freight forwarding may become one of the highest emitting sectors globally.
But the growth in trade doesn’t need to come at the expense of the environment. Replacing fossil-fuel with electric, hydrogen, and biofuel powered transport is one necessary step. A “modal shift” to less carbon-belching modes of shipment — using rail rather than trucks, ships rather than planes, if delivery requirements permit – is another.
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Equally important is ensuring that cargo-space is utilised fully. In maritime shipping, which moves over 80 per cent of all international freight, one in every three containers is estimated to be transported without anything inside. Empty containers cost the industry billions of dollars and the environment tonnes of carbon.
Truck transport, too, is confounded by underutilised cargo space. For example, the truck loading rate in Japan has fallen in recent years to as low as 40 per cent driven by changes such as time-sensitive delivery of small and diverse lot orders as well as the rise of e-commerce.
― Orchestrating greener logistics
These practices must change.
How to coordinate multiple shipments of diverse delivery requirements, sorting and combining them across different modes of transport, borders, and regulatory environments, all the while minimising emissions?
Few companies are as suited as the Nippon Express Group, Asia’s largest and one of the world’s leading global logistics service providers, to orchestrate the shift to green logistics.
To start with, the forwarder offers an unparalleled network of sea, land, and air transport. This meant Nippon Express was, for example, able to avoid locked-down harbours and conflict zones to maintain supply chains for its customers during recent disruptions. These capabilities can also be used to reduce emissions through modal shift options.
“Our strength is in being able to offer multiple modes of transport which can be combined based on the priorities of reducing lead time, cost, and carbon footprint ,” explains Akira Unno, executive officer, corporate strategy headquarters, DX promotion division, sustainability promotion division, NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS, INC.
Unno heads the newly established Sustainability Promotion Division along with the DX Promotion Division, helming two key managerial goals of the forwarder.
ft_nov2022-3.jpg Akira Unno, executive officer for the corporate strategy headquarters for Nippon Express Holdings, Inc, heads up the company’s new Sustainability Promotion Division and DX Promotion Division
Recent digital transformation efforts and partnerships with technology leaders such as NEC have generated digital solutions to complement the group’s physical assets.
Last year, Nippon Express launched a visualisation system which allows customers to precisely calculate the amount of CO2 emissions depending on different combinations of transport modes within Japan, as well as a service which generates emission reports for disclosure purposes.
The company is currently developing this digital service for international freight forwarding. Such services will be especially useful for larger global companies needing to track emissions across their value chains and those facing disclosure requirements compliant with EU taxonomy guidelines, for example.
― Partners in sustainability solutions
“Another strength of ours is an ability to collaborate on logistics solutions with diverse companies and industries for all manners of products. I believe this gives us a hybrid nature which nourishes new value,” Unno says.
In Japan, the company has been at the forefront of innovations generated in partnership with customers such as the joint use of cargo space among multiple companies. The company believes that it can contribute immensely to decarbonising global logistics by coordinating such joint and mixed delivery of cargo for international trade.
And for the high-growth international logistics sectors - pharma, semiconductors, electronics, automotives and high fashion – greener logistics solutions will often be customised to meet unique product requirements, a core competency of the company.
― Committing to sustainability
Along with innovating greener logistics for its customers, Nippon Express is moving quickly to reduce its own direct carbon emissions. Progress in the use of renewable energy, LEDs and eco-friendly vehicles, ships, and other modes of transport, among other initiatives, has led to a sharp drop in the group’s emissions and fuel consumption. It is planning to achieve a 30 per cent reduction in emissions compared to the FY2013 level by next year, which will be seven years ahead of schedule.
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Elsewhere, the company joined a program launched by All Nippon Airways to use sustainable air fuel manufactured from biomass, waste cooking oil, and exhaust gases on its cargo flights . From May of this year, Nippon Express adopted TCFD recommendations, allowing it to identify risks and opportunities to the group’s business related to climate change. Equally important, since 2021, the group has commissioned for third-party verification of emissions data to ensure transparency and reliability of its sustainability commitments.
All such measures are being underpinned by organisational and attitudinal changes in the group.
“Establishing the Sustainability Promotion Division has been a spur to think proactively about sustainability and how it is at the heart of our group management,” says Unno. “We will continue to discuss how sustainability impacts our business and what we should be monitoring and disclosing from this perspective.”
ft_nov2022-5.jpg Unno with the team from the Sustainability Promotion Division
Although only recently appointed head of this division, Unno explains that his mission will be achieved when sustainability thinking comes naturally to every employee in Nippon Express.
“At that point, sustainability will be motivating every employee, helping our company grow while maintaining our planet. Our division can then step up to face other challenges.”