DHL Group

Carbon per million dollars of revenue. The legacy industry-standard reference (CDP, MSCI). Useful for cross-sector context, but distorted by margin — high-margin firms appear artificially efficient. Read alongside the operational and asset intensities for the full picture.

OpEx (operating expenditure) is the running cost of the business — staff, services, energy, materials. This shows how carbon-intensive operations are per million dollars of spend. Removes the margin distortion that revenue-based ratios introduce.

EVIC (Enterprise Value Including Cash) is the firm's total capital footprint — equity + debt + cash + minority interest. The EU's standard intensity measure (SFDR PAI 3) — answers: how much carbon does each million of capital deployed in this business produce?

PP&E (Property, Plant & Equipment) plus leased real-estate assets is the firm's physical infrastructure on the balance sheet. This shows the carbon intensity of that physical footprint — uses Scope 1+2+3 for consistency with the other headline intensities. Surfaces stranded-asset risk for asset-heavy firms.

DHL increased energy from renewable sources to 10.3% in 2024 (3,332 GWh of 32,473 GWh total). 95% of building electricity is from renewable sources and 61% of total building energy is renewable. Renewable share by mode: 26.6% air (SAF), 18.4% road (HVO/electric), 55.0% buildings. New owned buildings operate carbon-neutral using on-site solar PV, solar-ready roofs, additional grid energy purchased, and battery-storage-ready installations. DHL participates in Aireg, ISCC, RSB, and the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance.

DHL explicitly rejects offsetting as a decarbonization measure: 'GHG emission offsetting occurs outside the value chain of DHL Group. Not recognized by GHG Protocol, ESRS and SBTi for GHG emission reduction. Does not alter GHG emissions of DHL Group.' Instead, DHL uses direct substitution (vehicle fueling with SAF/electricity) and indirect substitution / insetting (Book & Claim purchase of SAF/SMF certificates in the same transport mode), as recommended by SBTi's Aviation Guidance. For carbon-neutral buildings, up to 25% offset with verified carbon credits is permitted against a 75% reduction baseline.

• Carbon-neutral building operations

  As of 2021, all new owned buildings operate carbon-neutral per internal DHL framework (based on World Green Buildings Council, certified by SGS). Requires 75%+ CO2 reduction with max 25% verified offsets. 12,114 sites worldwide; 59% certified to ISO 14001/50001; 95% electricity and 61% energy from renewable sources. Buildings = 1% of logistics-related GHG emissions.

• Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in air freight

  DHL targets 30% sustainable fuel share in air, ocean and road by 2030. Air is the largest emissions mode (68% of logistics-related). SAF availability constrains use. GoGreen Plus enables customer Book & Claim SAF purchases with 30/50/70% CO2e reduction options (up to 85% in some products). Share of sustainable fuels reached 3.0% in 2024.

• Fleet electrification of pick-up and delivery

  DHL aims for 66% e-vehicles in pick-up and delivery by 2030. In 2024, 41.4% of P&D was electric, with 39,129 e-vehicles in pick-up and delivery (up from baseline; total e-vehicles grew +96% from 21,431 in 2021 to 42,004 in 2024). Total road fleet: 121,848 vehicles. Additional capex of €217m and opex of €154m for decarbonization in 2024, 78% of which was on e-fleet.

• Pick-up & delivery fleet electrification to 60% by 2030

  E-vehicles grew 68.8% over 2021-2023 to 36,179 units (37.6% of pick-up & delivery fleet), with target of 60% by 2030. Plus 25,000 bicycles including 14,000 e-trikes and 5,500 e-bikes. Post & Parcel Germany alone operates ~28,100 e-vehicles. On long routes uses HVO and CNG/biogas trucks as transitional alternatives.

• Sustainable road fuels (HVO, biogas/CNG)

  Transition to HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) for diesel substitution — e.g. fueling stations in Great Britain and Netherlands eCommerce converted to HVO. Partner in Ireland setting up biogas generation for sustainably-produced CNG trucks. Sustainable Fuel Policy governs procurement including biodiversity safeguards in feedstock.

• CO2-neutral building design standard

  By 2030 all new owned buildings to be CO2 neutral (Scopes 1+2) per internal framework based on World Green Buildings Council guidance, certified by SGS. Standard measures: efficient HVAC/heat pumps, LED with smart controls, PV systems, battery storage, building automation. 60% of locations already certified to ISO 14001 and/or 50001. Buildings represent only ~1% of GHG footprint.

• Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) procurement

  Aviation accounts for 68% of DHL's GHG footprint. 2023 SAF use increased to 72 kt, supplied at eight airports globally (started Amsterdam and San Francisco in 2020). Offered to customers via GoGreen Plus. 12 all-electric 'Alice' cargo planes ordered, expected from 2027. €113m in additional aviation fuel expenditure in 2023; up to €7bn cumulative decarbonization spend by 2030.

• Climate-neutral building design for all new owned buildings by 2030

  All new owned buildings to be climate neutral by 2030. 58% of 12,500 sites certified to ISO 14001 and/or 50001. 56% of site energy from renewable sources (94% of which for electricity). Buildings currently account for only 1% of total GHG emissions. €24m invested in buildings decarbonization in 2022.

• Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) for air freight

  Air transport accounts for 69% of GHG emissions. DHL is expanding SAF supply across Express and offers SAF along all trade lanes in Global Forwarding. 343 million kWh of sustainable fuel used for air transport in 2022. Targeting >30% sustainable fuel blending by 2030. €66m additional spend on sustainable fuels in 2022 (+136% YoY).

• Modern air fleet — CAEP/8 + electric 'Alice' aircraft

  42% of DHL's >300 dedicated cargo aircraft already meet the strictest CAEP/8 emissions standard. Up to 12 all-electric Eviation 'Alice' cargo planes ordered for delivery from 2027, to be used for shuttle flights in the United States.

• Pick-up and delivery fleet electrification (60% e-vehicles by 2030)

  29,200 e-vehicles in use at year-end 2022 (+36% YoY), of which 27,800 in pick-up and delivery. Target 60% e-vehicle share in pick-up and delivery by 2030. 77% of total fleet complies with highest Euro emissions classifications. €179m spent on fleet electrification in 2022.

• Sustainable subcontracted transport (Scope 3 cat 4)

  Upstream transportation and distribution is the dominant Scope 3 category at 24.18 MtCO2e (>75% of total Scope 3). DHL is shifting transports to its own fleet where possible to reduce subcontractor emissions; this drove the -20.4% decline in Scope 3 vs 2021. GoGreen Plus offers customers insetting via sustainable fuel certificates for subcontracted transport.

• Ocean freight sustainable maritime fuels

  Ship owners use sustainable maritime fuel (SMF) with up to 85% CO2e reduction possible across 4 reduction levels. Ocean represents 9% of logistics emissions. Customers can book via Book & Claim model.

• Subcontractor decarbonisation via Book & Claim

  Scope 3 Cat 4 (upstream transport) is 23 Mt CO2e — the dominant emissions source. DHL drives reductions through Green Carrier Certifications for subcontractors, sustainable fuels for ocean freight (since 2021) and air freight (since 2022) via Book & Claim/myDHLi, and decarbonization via alternative road freight technologies since 2023. Rail freight reduces emissions 30% vs truck.

• Rail and biogas trucks for road linehaul

  €15m invested in 2022 on rail and biogas trucks. Supply Chain division focuses on gas-powered vehicles in its company fleet. eCommerce Solutions increasingly purchases HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) for linehaul wherever possible.

• GoGreen Plus — customer-facing sustainable transport products

  GoGreen Plus enables customers to opt for sustainable fuels via insetting across air (all trade lanes), ocean (myDHLi Quote+Book) and road freight. Rail transport (DHL Railnet) reduces GHG emissions ~30% vs conventional trucking. Customers can also purchase Gold Standard offsets and receive carbon reports for footprint transparency.