Swiss Post has committed to achieving net zero emissions across its entire value chain by 2040, by initially becoming carbon-neutral in its internal operations by 2030.
One of its key targets is to rapidly reduce its carbon footprint, primarily by transitioning its vehicle fleet to electric vehicles. Approximately half of Swiss Post’s vehicles are already emission-free.
Additionally, Swiss Post is heavily investing in renewable energy sources and phasing out fossil fuels. They are actively installing solar systems on the rooftops of their facilities, like letter and parcel centres, to drive these efforts. Through these initiatives, the Swiss Post anticipates a reduction of around 90% in their emissions by 2040.
“The CO2 that we cannot reduce ourselves must not remain in the atmosphere. We plan to actively extract it through various measures and store it in the long term,” said Roberto Cirillo, CEO of Swiss Post. High-quality and effective technical carbon neutralisation services hardly exist at present, so Swiss Post is taking action itself, focusing on ‘natural’ methods to extract CO2 from the atmosphere.
One of these methods is sustainable forest management. When trees grow, they extract carbon from the atmosphere and store it in their wood. To ensure lasting carbon capture, the wood must be used in the long term – for example, as sustainable construction timber or for the production of vegetable carbon.
To fulfil this long-term commitment, Swiss Post has secured a forest in Germany through a purchase agreement. The forest spans around 2,400 hectares in Thuringia, Germany, and provides the necessary land for carbon capture. This move aligns with the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) and reflects the Swiss Post’s dedication to ambitious climate goals.
Swiss Post acknowledges that while forest management is currently the most effective method, they are continuously evaluating alternative approaches for carbon capture and storage. These decisions are made after careful analysis, considering economic factors and anticipating advancements in carbon capture technologies. To ensure well-informed choices, Swiss Post has formed an advisory board comprised of sustainability, climate, and energy experts.
Following these measures, Swiss Post is targeting a 42% reduction in CO2 emissions within its internal operations (Scope 1,2) and a 25% reduction across its entire value chain (Scope 3) by 2030, relative to the 2021 baseline. Despite this progress, some residual emissions are projected post-2040, particularly those linked to indirect value chain emissions like PostFinance’s investment holdings and certain industrial procurement. These lingering emissions are expected to amount to a maximum of around 10% of the 2021 emissions.
Swiss Post is also assembling a portfolio of strategies to extract roughly 124,000 tonnes of CO2 annually from 2030 onward, in line with the established CO2 reduction pathway for its internal operations. To this end, the company established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Post CDR Ltd (CDR = Carbon Dioxide Removal), in August 2022.
Swiss Post has already initiated a collaboration with First Climate (Switzerland) AG to support a project by Inkoh AG, which produces vegetable carbon in Maienfeld in the Canton of Graubünden. This substance can be used in agriculture or incorporated into durable construction materials, such as concrete or asphalt, offering verifiable long-term carbon storage and soil enhancement.
