Post for planet: Green energy pathways for a reliable & resilient sector

A special UPU Sustainability Roundtable held during World Post Week 2022.

Energy is critical to keep the global postal network moving. The vehicles, buildings, and digital infrastructure needed to deliver postal services all depend upon reliable supplies of energy. However, the reliability of energy supply is subject to change.

Supply chains for fossil fuels are vulnerable to reduced availability or increased costs at any time, as a result of economic and social factors, conflict, or natural disasters exacerbated by climate change. Electricity supplies are also vulnerable.

Energy is central to the climate commitments and obligations of the postal sector. Collectively, UPU member countries have committed to a variety of actions that aim to reduce global greenhouse emissions from postal operations, and to increase their resilience to disruption from climate change. This reflects the broader national commitments to mitigation and adaption by signatories to the Paris Agreement. Postal operators are under pressure from regulators, customers, and their own corporate commitments.

Many postal operators have developed strong climate policies, committing them to establish low-emission and climate-resilient infrastructure. Carbon accounting tools such as OSCAR have been used to establish emission profiles and baselines, with roadmaps setting out the technical solutions to reaching key climate targets. However, little information exists on how postal operators are funding this transition.

Together, this roundtable of experts & leaders will help answer the following questions:

• How should the postal sector increase its energy security, while simultaneously reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and increasing its resilience to climate disruption?
• What are the synergies and tensions between these three goals?
• In which ways can postal operators secure funds for climate infrastructure from within their own organizations and beyond?

Moderated by: Susan Alexander, Programme Manager, Sustainability Services, UPU

Speakers

• Marjan Osvald, UPU Deputy Director General
• Siva Somasundram, Director, Policies, Regulation & Markets, UPU
• Rabia Ferroukhi, Director, Knowledge, Policy and Finance Centre, IRENA
• Margaux Meidinger, Head of European CSR Affairs, La Poste France
• ​Verny Rodríguez Martínez, Coordinator of Environmental Management Commission, Correos Costa Rica
• More to be announced soon!

Register now!