The Universal Postal Union today reiterated its commitment to helping postal operators worldwide better manage their CO2 emissions at the United Nations climate change conference taking place in Poznan, Poland.
Speaking at a side event on green postal projects organized by PostEurop, an association of European public postal operators, the International Bureau's Daniel LEGOFF said the UPU was gathering information among its 191 member countries about the global impact of their postal operations on the environment. About 30% of countries have already responded to a worldwide UPU survey.
The UPU will continue to work closely with the United Nations Environment Programme and postal organizations, such as PostEurop, on this issue. Once an initial assessment has been performed, the organization will then develop an action plan to help postal operators worldwide mitigate green-house gas emissions.
LEGOFF, who oversees sustainable development initiatives, said the UPU should be able to announce preliminary results by end of 2009.
"We have to demonstrate both to the UN community and to our customers that we are capable of setting up an appropriate measurement system and that we will adopt action plans leading to a significant and gradual reduction of our emissions. Our goal is to publish an annual indicator related to postal CO2 emissions."
LEGOFF said the data already collected by PostEurop through the Green House Gas Reduction Programme will considerably enrich the UPU data base.
He confirmed the UPU's commitment in combating climate change. He said the organization aims to build international cooperation with other UN organizations, generate political awareness at the regional and national level, obtain designated operators' commitment to initiatives, and adopt efficient reporting systems to monitor the situation.
With millions of letters and parcels being processed every day, important technical means and human actions are needed from posting to delivery of every item: postal customers use thousands of tons of paper every day, more than 600,000 postal facilities worldwide use electricity, gas and fuel for heating and air conditioning, and an estimated 250,000 motorcycles and 600,000 cars, vans and trucks, as well as hundreds of aircraft, trains and boats, are mobilized to transport and distribute close to 440 billion letters and 6 billion parcels every year.