DESPITE increasing efforts in the airfreight and logistics sectors to become greener, sustainability is not an immediate priority for small freight forwarders, reports London's Air Cargo News.
This is according to the 2024 State of Sustainability in Freight Forwarding Report, produced by the British International Freight Association (BIFA) and Pledge.
The report, based on a survey, stated that despite a growing acceptance of the importance of sustainability initiatives among British freight forwarders, more than half are prioritizing other 'business-critical issues'
This viewpoint was particularly apparent amongst smaller forwarders, not a surprise given larger companies have more money to dedicate to sustainable practices.
Despite the finding, the report stated that a significant portion of forwarders still plan to offer sustainability services within the next 12 months.
Steve Parker, BIFA director general, said: 'Environmental and sustainability issues are not new and over time, the environmental agenda within freight and logistics has developed.
'For many years BIFA has been monitoring the legislation, tracking any new regulations, and delivering advice to its corporate members on environmental and sustainability issues.
'Last year, BIFA established a policy group to help identify and report to the Association and its Members on environmental-related issues which may in the future have an impact upon their businesses, or in fact are already doing so. The results of the first sustainability survey that we have undertaken of BIFA corporate members will help to shape the work of that policy group.'
The survey found that more than half of respondents have some kind of sustainability policy, and nearly two-thirds say they have customers currently asking for carbon emissions reporting on their shipments.
A key theme was that company size plays a significant role in how much sustainability is prioritized at freight forwarding companies, with the majority of enterprise (1,000+ employees) and large (250-1000 employees) forwarders generally considering sustainability important and a minority considering it a mid-level priority.
Among small forwarders (10-50 employees), sustainability is much more likely to be considered a low priority, with more than half of very small forwarders (1-10 employees) considering it low priority or not a priority at all
SeaNews Turkey
This is according to the 2024 State of Sustainability in Freight Forwarding Report, produced by the British International Freight Association (BIFA) and Pledge.
The report, based on a survey, stated that despite a growing acceptance of the importance of sustainability initiatives among British freight forwarders, more than half are prioritizing other 'business-critical issues'
This viewpoint was particularly apparent amongst smaller forwarders, not a surprise given larger companies have more money to dedicate to sustainable practices.
Despite the finding, the report stated that a significant portion of forwarders still plan to offer sustainability services within the next 12 months.
Steve Parker, BIFA director general, said: 'Environmental and sustainability issues are not new and over time, the environmental agenda within freight and logistics has developed.
'For many years BIFA has been monitoring the legislation, tracking any new regulations, and delivering advice to its corporate members on environmental and sustainability issues.
'Last year, BIFA established a policy group to help identify and report to the Association and its Members on environmental-related issues which may in the future have an impact upon their businesses, or in fact are already doing so. The results of the first sustainability survey that we have undertaken of BIFA corporate members will help to shape the work of that policy group.'
The survey found that more than half of respondents have some kind of sustainability policy, and nearly two-thirds say they have customers currently asking for carbon emissions reporting on their shipments.
A key theme was that company size plays a significant role in how much sustainability is prioritized at freight forwarding companies, with the majority of enterprise (1,000+ employees) and large (250-1000 employees) forwarders generally considering sustainability important and a minority considering it a mid-level priority.
Among small forwarders (10-50 employees), sustainability is much more likely to be considered a low priority, with more than half of very small forwarders (1-10 employees) considering it low priority or not a priority at all
SeaNews Turkey
