DHL Express, Vietnamese bank ACB ink emissions cutting contract

Vietnamese bank ACB will be able to reduce 14 tons worth of CO2 emissions within a 12-month period when signing a GoGreen Plus service contract with DHL Express.

DHL Express has onboarded Asia Commercial JSC (ACB) on its GoGreen Plus service to reduce carbon emissions for its time-definite international (TDI) shipments through the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The whole process is verified annually by an independent third-party agency, Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS). In addition, a complementary Carbon Footprint report will be updated monthly, detailing ACB’s overall emissions with DHL Express.

Bernardo Bautista, general director and country manager of DHL Express Vietnam, commented: “We believe that corporate social responsibility and business success always go hand in hand. Globally, sustainability and environmental protection are important for all of us, including our customers.

"With SAF as our key lever to effectively reduce carbon emissions, DHL Express is proud to be the first global express courier to enable our customers to do so. Our partnership with ACB will enable their customers to also make a direct contribution to climate protection."

ACB deputy general director Ngo Tan Long said: "ACB is providing international payment services with market-leading quality. We always want customers to enjoy more benefits when choosing ACB. With the GoGreen Plus partnership, ACB hopes to introduce a service that not only helps to add value for customers but also promotes the sustainable development spirit through the cooperation with DHL as well as our customers."

ACB has been a pioneering bank in integrating ESG-oriented (environment, social, governance) sustainable development goals into its business strategy. The bank says all its activities are aimed at "striking a reasonable balance between short-term results and long-term sustainable development, as well as between revenue growth and value creation for stakeholders, thereby achieving comprehensive growth across all three E, S and G criteria."

In 2022, ACB recorded that 93% of its employees were willing to implement ESG initiatives, and as a result, 215 tons of paper were saved and recycled through process digitalization, 32 tons of plastic was replaced with environmentally friendly materials, and 181 tons of CO2 were neutralized using recycled carpet materials.

Launched this year by DHL Express, GoGreen Plus leverages carbon insetting and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to enable customers to reduce their Scope 3 emissions. Unlike offsetting initiatives, GoGreen Plus (insetting) reduces emissions within the logistics sector. Following the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi), it can be used for DHL customers’ own voluntary emission reporting.

Instead of investing in external carbon-reduction projects like tree planting, insetting calls for the organization to commit to sustainable practices by directly reducing or preventing greenhouse gas emissions tied to its activities.

SAF is generated from alternative feedstock with a superior sustainable energy profile, including used cooking oil, corn, waste, hydrogen, or CO2 synthesis. This contrasts with traditional, carbon-intensive jet fuels - or kerosene - that are derived from petroleum. SAF is currently the only scalable solution for the coming years, given that it is the only option for long-range flights.

The DHL Group has committed itself to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and has unveiled plans to invest EUR 7 billion in carbon emissions reduction initiatives until 2030. It says: "With approximately 90% of its carbon footprint derived from the air network, viable and sustainable air transport solutions are important for creating cleaner and greener logistics operations. This includes two of the largest ever deals with bp and Neste, who will supply DHL with more than 800 million liters of sustainable aviation fuel until 2026.

"This contributes to the interim target of using 30% SAF for all air transport by 2030. Equally, DHL Express has also partnered with Eviation, who will deliver up to 12 electric cargo planes from 2027 onwards."