DHL Express Sees Strong Demand for GoGreen Plus in Asia Pacific

In the span of one year, DHL Express, the world’s leading international express service provider, has registered more than 12,000 customers who have taken up the GoGreen Plus service in Asia Pacific (excluding China). This includes more than 2,800 companies who have signed a contractual agreement to use GoGreen Plus. The rest comprises customers who have opted GoGreen Plus as the shipping service through MyDHL+, the company’s online shipping and tracking platform.

Introduced in February 2023, GoGreen Plus allows customers to reduce (‘inset’) the carbon emissions associated with their international shipments using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Insetting through GoGreen Plus allows customers to reduce their Scope 3 emissions, the indirect greenhouse gas emissions that occur in a company’s value chain, including downstream transportation and distribution. The GoGreen Plus service is currently the only method available in the global express logistics industry that enables customers to utilize SAF to reduce emissions related to their shipments.

“We have a clear mission to achieve net-zero emissions for our logistics operations by 2050, and we want to enable our customers to join us in this journey. Although GoGreen Plus was only launched a year ago, we have observed very positive adoption rates, indicating the market was ripe for such an offering. There has been a rapid pickup rate among businesses as well as consumers,” said Ken Lee, CEO for Asia Pacific, DHL Express.

“This is aligned with a DHL survey, which found that more than one in three (38 percent) of online shippers in Asia Pacific are prepared to pay more for a greener delivery option. The high uptake of GoGreen Plus among individual shippers demonstrates a strong willingness to pay more to use SAF to decarbonize their shipments.”

SAF take-up among Asian companies on an upward trend

While companies have already committed to cutting down on their carbon footprint and running their operations sustainably, a report has shown that many companies in Asia Pacific still fall short in their Scope 3 emissions measurement effort. With GoGreen Plus, customers can tailor the amount of CO₂e they intend to reduce. This is achieved using the ‘book and claim’ approach, where DHL will pass on the environmental benefits to the customers on the GoGreen Plus service. As a result, customers can report their emissions following the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) philosophy.

Out of the over 2,800 companies that signed up for GoGreen Plus, over 2,000 companies have opted to reduce 30 percent carbon emissions for their time-definite international shipments through SAF. Furthermore, some have committed even high reductions, such as AFFIN Group from Malaysia, Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank from Vietnam, CHIMEI Corporation from Taiwan and SCREEN Semiconduction Solutions from Japan that have all committed to reducing their carbon emissions via SAF.

DHL Express has also observed interest in using SAF across all sectors, with the biggest uptake in Asia Pacific coming from these sectors: Consumer Retail & Fashion, Technology, Financial Institutions, and Engineering & Manufacturing.

“Among our customers, we are seeing a huge appetite for solutions that could reduce carbon emissions for their shipments. Our GoGreen Plus service is one such way, and we are pleased to see that it is positively received. In fact, our customers are not merely choosing a service; they are also championing a commitment to a greener and more responsible future,” said Yung C. Ooi, Senior Vice President for Commercial, Asia Pacific, DHL Express.

Consumers in Asia Pacific willing to invest in SAF

Climate change is a key personal concern for many individuals in Asia Pacific. A Deloitte study has shown that consumers in the region are willing to pay more for sustainable products, with 52 percent having changed their purchasing behaviors to contribute to climate protection. DHL Express’ GoGreen Plus solution allows individual shippers to easily do so by booking their shipment on the MyDHL+ platform and ticking the box marked GoGreen Plus.

Role of GoGreen Plus instrumental to achieving net-zero emissions

The GoGreen Plus service is made possible through strategic collaborations with bp and Neste to procure more than 800 million liters of SAF as well as agreement with World Energy to purchase approximately 668 million liters of SAF via sustainable aviation certificates.