There is increasing pressure on the logistics industry to reduce its carbon footprint, which is estimated to contribute just over a third of global carbon dioxide emissions.To meet the world’s net-zero targets, transport needs to reduce its emissions by around 20% to less than six gigatons by 2030.A quick win for the logistics sector is reducing “empty miles”, the distance covered while moving empty containers or trailers. In 2022 Eurostat estimated that 20% of the total distance travelled by trucks in the region were empty miles. For transporters there is the added incentive of reducing wear and maintenance on vehicles.Research by Accenture and the World Economic Forum found that that digital technology could deliver as much as 20% of the reduction needed to meet the net-zero target through route optimisation, but only if employed at scale. Data, algorithms, and software can be used to determine the most efficient and eco-friendly routes for transportation.Another study found that optimised routing could reduce the distance driven by 10%, fuel consumption by 11% and emissions by 10% a month.While the information technology exists to reduce carbon emissions through consolidation and shared procurement platforms to reduce the number of empty miles, industry dynamics create roadblocks to implementation.Large corporates and forwarding companies have contracts with a particular haulier and do not have the f lexibility within their own systems to make use of another supplier.Hauliers, understandably, are not willing to lose loads to competitors and will instead absorb the cost of the wasted miles. There are global efforts to address these challenges through the non-profit Smart Freight Centre.It has partnered with the Kühne Climate Centre to launch the Green Freight Support Programme in East Africa.“The Northern Corridor is east and central Africa's busiest transport route, with 2 000 to 3 000 trucks daily, facilitating the movement of about 75 000 tons of freight from Mombasa to Kenya and EAC countries,” said Omae Nyarandi, executive secretary of Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA) at the launch of the programme. The NCTTCA and United Nations Environment Programme have developed the Northern Corridor Green Freight Strategy 2030, which aims to transform the route into a net-zero emission corridor by 2050.“Through the Green Freight Support Programme, we provide a platform for the freight stakeholders to work together,” said Rik Arends, director of the Smart Freight Centre.
