All deliveries create a carbon footprint, and we can reduce this while supporting important projects that benefit communities and change the world.
Since 2019, Australia Post has offset the carbon emissions of all our parcel deliveries made via our Post Offices and My Post business customers. Our Carbon Neutral Deliveries program supports important Australian and international projects that align with the values of our business and our customers.
The results speak for themselves: since the program’s launch, we have offset 107.85 million parcels and 206,026 tonnes of emissions. That’s the equivalent of taking 85,000 cars off the road.
Australia Post’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Susan Mizrahi, says, “we believe in delivering a better future for our customers, communities, people and our own business. So we decided to partner with Qantas Future Planet for this important program to actively counter carbon pollution in the atmosphere.”
She adds that the investments help support achieving many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, “So your delivery purchases are helping to put the world on a more sustainable pathway and achieve these global goals by 2030.”
Susan says the Carbon Neutral Deliveries program has become a way for you, the consumer, to support sustainable practices. “We’re automatically enabling our customers to make a positive difference to the environment, simply by sending your parcels via a Post Office or MyPost. And you don’t have to pay a cent extra.”
How carbon offsets work
When you’re shopping online or sending gifts to family, it’s easy to forget that those deliveries create an environmental footprint. During the delivery process, transporting the parcel emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and carbon dioxide is shown to have a negative impact on our environment.
In a world that’s filled with deliveries every day, Australia Post is committed to making sure that carbon neutral parcel delivery reduces the overall impact of our services.
For each delivery we make, Australia Post calculates how much carbon is emitted. We then purchase the equivalent number of carbon credits from Qantas Future Planet projects that benefit the environment and positively impact communities, both in Australia and around the world. Qantas Future Planet is a partnership between Qantas and Tasman Environmental Markets. The purchase of these carbon credits matches the environmental impact of each parcel that is delivered.
This process is verified by the Federal Government program, now called Climate Active.
“From the moment a parcel leaves the Post Office to the moment it arrives at its destination, we offset the carbon emitted by purchasing carbon credits,” says Susan. “These credits are then invested in projects that reduce emissions, like bushfire management, forest regeneration and renewable energy.”
The impact of our carbon offset projects
The most exciting part of our carbon offset commitment are the amazing projects we’re supporting together.
“We invest in carbon offset programs both in Australia and abroad,” Susan says. “The programs we fund align with our strategic priorities, as well as the UN Sustainable Development Goals that we impact most directly through our operations.”
There are four carbon offset projects we invest in:
- West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement, which supports Aboriginal people in returning to, remaining on and managing their country.
- Native Forest Regeneration, an initiative in regional New South Wales following widespread land clearing that has negatively impacted the local ecosystems. This project involves working with landholders to regenerate and protect native vegetation and wildlife, achieving a range of environmental benefits.
- Indian Wind Projects, which installs clean energy in Tamil Nadu, India, where power would otherwise be generated by a fossil-fuel fired power plant.
- Efficient Cookstoves, a project that builds clean, efficient stoves that slow down the combustion of wood to improve air quality and reduce health risks to the people of Malawi.
- Susan says that the West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement project is the perfect example of how Australia Post selects carbon offset initiatives.
“As part of our commitment to reconciliation, we recently launched our fourth Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). Our RAP sets out a number of actions toward reconciliation that are guided by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices and views, and the cultures and wisdom they hold.”
Our carbon credits from this project fund the wellbeing of traditional custodians, as well as protecting the natural environment. Susan explains, “this is a really important one because Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory is prone to extreme wildfires. This project protects the biodiversity of the land, using both incendiary pellets dropped from helicopters and ground burning during the early dry season. This approach reduces fuel loads and establishes a mosaic of cool burns around the project area.
“This project is owned exclusively by Aboriginal people with custodial responsibility for parts of the land under active bushfire management, so it not only protects the biodiversity of the land but also supports them in remaining on and managing their country.”
When you send a parcel through the Post Office or your MyPost business account, you’re automatically supporting carbon neutral parcel delivery and helping to create a more sustainable future. Most importantly, you also play a vital role in creating positive environmental impacts for communities around Australia and other nations.