Case study: How Royal Mail is reducing transport emissions
As the UK’s pre-eminent delivery company, delivering letters and parcels to approximately 30 million addresses across the country, Royal Mail aims to be recognised as the best delivery company in the UK and across Europe. Investing in new technologies and long-term initiatives, such as changing driving styles, to reduce its carbon emissions is, thus, a top priority.
This case study is based on the 2016-17 Corporate Responsibility Report by Royal Mail published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
Abstract
Reducing its environmental impact helps Royal Mail to cut operating costs, sustain a competitive business and engage its people more effectively. Tweet This! In order to reduce transport emissions Royal Mail took action to:
- change driving styles
- invest in new vehicles
- make its transport network more efficient
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Royal Mail has identified;
- How Royal Mail proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Royal Mail to reduce transport emissions
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2016-17 Corporate Responsibility Report Royal Mail identified a range of material issues, such as community relations, customer service, employee relations, business integrity. Among these, reducing transport emissions stands out as a key material issue for Royal Mail.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Framework
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the principle of stakeholder inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Royal Mail engages with:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Customers
| · Royal Mail’s customer services engage in approximately 7.5 million customer conversations a year by phone, email and Twitter · www.royalmail.com website · Royal Mail’s postmen and women interact with customers daily · Sales team of account managers – field, desk, new business and specialists – interact with business customers on a daily basis |
| Colleagues
| · Weekly Work Time Listening and Learning sessions for frontline employees · Just Say It (an email link to Royal Mail’s CEO) · Royal Mail TV · Intranet and extranet (www.myroyalmail.com) · Town Hall forums and engagement with senior managers · Royal Mail’s monthly magazine, Courier |
| Unions | · Weekly meetings between CWU representatives and frontline operational managers · Ad hoc meetings to support individuals · Operations directors, project managers and the Industrial Relations team engage with unions on all business-wide issues · Ongoing collaborative meetings to involve Royal Mail’s unions in efficiency improvements and growth opportunities |
| Investors | · A comprehensive investor relations programme · Full year and half year results presentations and first and fourth quarter trading updates · Annual General Meeting · Publication of Annual Report and Financial Statements · The investors section of Royal Mail’s website · Internal communication channels for Royal Mail’s employee shareholders |
| Regulator – Ofcom
| · Royal Mail’s Regulation and Competition Policy team regularly engages through face-to-face meetings, reporting and consultation responses |
| Elected representatives and officials
| · Royal Mail’s Public Affairs and EU Policy teams engage regularly with elected representatives and Government officials through responses to formal consultations, briefings and Royal Mail’s outreach programme. This includes ‘Walking in your postie’s shoes’ and other operational visits · |
| Local communities | · Royal Mail’s CR and Community Investment team engages with charity partners and organisations to drive positive social impacts · Colleagues interact with communities daily |
| Suppliers | · Group Procurement liaises with suppliers before sourcing, and monitors compliance with Royal Mail’s Responsible Procurement Code, which sets out the high standards of ethical, social and environmental conduct Royal Mail expect from its suppliers · Contract managers monitor suppliers’ contractual obligations and KPIs · GLS engages with transport providers in Germany to embed ethical principles through its Partner Code |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics Royal Mail engaged stakeholders, including customers, consumers, employees, unions, shareholders, suppliers and environmental representatives, through surveys, interviews and a stakeholder panel. Participants were asked to rank a variety of social, financial and environmental issues in terms of their importance for Royal Mail.
What actions were taken by Royal Mail to reduce transport emissions?
In its 2016-17 Corporate Responsibility Report Royal Mail reports that it took the following actions for reducing transport emissions:
- Changing driving styles
- Royal Mail uses telemetry and training to promote safer and more fuel efficient driving styles. Royal Mail’s telemetry system tracks drivers in real time, giving visible and audible warnings when they drive in a way that increases fuel consumption and emissions. In 2016-17, Royal Mail installed telemetry to around 2,900 vehicles and, today, 40 per cent of Royal Mail’s fleet is equipped with this technology. In 2016-17, telemetry saved Royal Mail approximately 1,751,105 litres of diesel, equating to 4,693 tonnes of CO2e. In addition, Royal Mail is collaborating with Pertemps, its driver training provider, on a new course that will help Royal Mail’s heavy fleet drivers use in-cab technology to improve safety and fuel efficiency.
- Investing in new vehicles
- In 2016-17 Royal Mail acquired 2,859 new vehicles, including 713 trucks and 2,146 smaller vans, which comply with the Euro 6 standard on commercial vehicle emissions. This standard aims to reduce levels of harmful exhaust emissions, such as oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and other pollutants. Additionally, Royal Mail replaced 233 single-deck trailers with 75 double-deck trailers that can transport more items per journey.
- Making Royal Mail’s transport network more efficient
- Royal Mail uses specialist technology to plan its transport networks for maximum efficiency, using a mix of road, rail and air. Royal Mail uses airmail only for First Class, Special Delivery and priority traffic obligations. Minimising the use of air transport, helps Royal Mail lower its CO2e emissions and reduce costs. In 2016-17, Royal Mail replaced air transport with road services on routes between Edinburgh and East Midlands, reducing associated CO2e emissions by approximately 2,000 tonnes annually.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:
1) Disclosure 302-1 Energy consumption within the organization
2) Disclosure 302-4 Reduction of energy consumption
3) Disclosure 305-5 Reduction of GHG emissions
Disclosure 302-1 Energy consumption within the organization corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
- Business theme: Energy efficiency, Renewable energy
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
- Business theme: Energy efficiency
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
- Business theme: Energy efficiency, Transport
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
- Business theme: Energy efficiency
Disclosure 302-4 Reduction of energy consumption corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
- Business theme: Energy efficiency
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
- Business theme: Energy efficiency
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
- Business theme: Energy efficiency
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
- Business theme: Energy efficiency
Disclosure 305-5 Reduction of GHG emissions corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
- Business theme: GHG emissions
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
- Business theme: Ocean acidification
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
- Business theme: Forest degradation
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References:
1) This case study is based on published information by Royal Mail, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:
http://database.globalreporting.org/
2) http://www.fbrh.co.uk/en/global-reporting-initiative-gri-g4-guidelines-download-page
3) https://g4.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx
4) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
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