Paul Barnes from Inspire Global Mobility Consulting looks at the strategy of sustainability for mobility companies, and some of the challenges ahead.
Back in August 2021, I gave an interview to The Mover as an introduction to sustainability for the moving industry. It was well received at the time, but today the issue has moved on.
In the last article we discussed actions that companies needed to take to reduce the carbon footprint of a move including measuring that footprint, reducing plastic use, and even moving to consolidation versus FCL shipments. It’s positive to see how far many in the industry have progressed as they took brave steps such as taking external assessments, setting targets and action to reduce plastics. So critically they moved from ‘talking to acting’ on these plus many other important sustainability topics.
In 2021, many of the terms and acronyms that have become common today were virtually unknown. These include: Scope 1, 2, 3 Emissions); EcoVadis, a global sustainability rating platform; CDP, formerly known as the carbon disclosure program which is a global environmental reporting system; SBTi, the Science Based Targets Initiative which provides a defined route to reduce emissions in line with Paris agreement goals; the United Nations Global Compact, a call to companies to align strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption; and SDGs, the Sustainable Development Goals to drive business awareness and action.
This change has been aided by many active stakeholders including ’The Coalition for Greener Mobility’ members: CERC (Canadian Employee Relocation Council), CHPA (Corporate Housing Providers Association), EuRA (European Relocation Association), FIDI Global Alliance, IAM (International Association of Movers) and Worldwide ERC (WERC) and Dr Johannes de Kam with his excellent educational work for OMNI (Overseas Moving Network International).
As with any industry, when faced with new challenges and considering local circumstances, and the size and scope of companies’ services, it is hard to achieve industry wide standards. But there is an affective, consistent approach that can be applied to your planning and strategy irrespective of where you are and what you do ...
Photo: Paul Barnes.