Deutsche Post DHL rewarded for GoGreen climate protection programme

Deutsche Post DHL's GoGreen climate protection programme has been chosen as a "selected landmark" in the 2009 Land of Ideas initiative.

The award was presented today in the DHL Innovation Center in Troisdorf, near Bonn. Clemens Beckmann, managing director, Inhouse Consulting & Technology and Innovation Management, accepted the honour on behalf of the company.

"GoGreen is a key component in our Group's corporate responsibility strategy," confirmed Mr Beckmann. "The fact that we are now a landmark in the land of ideas reaffirms our work." The DHL Innovation Center, which celebrated its second anniversary today, is unique in the sector and makes a substantial contribution towards the further development and implementation of the climate protection programme. Winfried Häser, head of Environmental Strategy and Policy, stressed, "Even in these difficult economic times climate protection remains one of our strategic priorities."

Pioneering climate protection in the sector

Hans-Peter Stefer from Deutsche Bank, acting as representative for the Germany - Land of Ideas initiative, emphasised the pioneering role of GoGreen for the entire sector in his presentation speech. "Logistics and the environmentally friendly requirements of tomorrow are already being anticipated and explored in the DHL Innovation Center today. The GoGreen climate protection programme is therefore looking after both resources and the budget and sets a good example both at home and abroad. The DHL Innovation Center is therefore making a contribution towards the future of our society and the economy."

"The aim of GoGreen is to improve the company's CO2 efficiency by 2020 in all departments by 30%. Deutsche Post DHL has already made important progress." A fact underlined by Steffen Frankenberg, head of the GoGreen Program, "We are testing amongst other things how we can sustainably reduce fuel consumption and harmful emissions in our fleet of vehicles using alternative power and intelligent route planning. We are also offering our customers climate-neutral services through GoGreen parcels and letters."

After the first pilot plans were developed for GoGreen products by the Public Policy and Sustainability department, the DHL Innovation Center was substantially involved in further development and the Group-wide expansion of carbon neutral shipment solutions. GoGreen has since become a stand-alone project in the Group's headquarters, which co-ordinates the implementation of measures for the entire Group.

Simply Green: CO2 neutral DHL Innovation Center

Employees behaviour and energy efficiency of buildings make a significant contribution to improve the Group's CO2 efficiency. With the project "Simply Green" the DHL Innovation Center leads by example. 'It is our aim to improve steadily the CO2 efficiency with em-ployees commitment and innovative technologies', says Keith Ulrich, head of Technology and Innovation Management. "The DHL Innovation Center and our team are CO2 neutral since January 2009."

First of all measuring technology has been installed in the building to record energy requirements in real-time. On this basis CO2 reduction measures and technologies will be identified, implemented and savings will be tracked. The employees commitment is of particular importance. They collect climate protection points with eco-friendly and efficient behaviour. That way, car pools are formed and devices are switched off during lunchtime and meetings.

The entire Group should benefit from the "Simply Green" experience regarding climate friendly technologies and measures, gained at the DHL Innovation Center.

2,000 application for 365 landmarks

Over 2,000 applications in total were received for the nationwide 365 landmarks in the Land of Ideas competition. Amongst other landmarks, ideas, initiatives, people and projects which were selected by the panel to be ambassadors for the 2009 Land of Ideas was Deutsche Post DHL's GoGreen climate protection program.

The Germany - Land of Ideas landmark initiative presents the award each year to particularly innovative and forward-looking projects. Co-operation partners behind the program include the German federal government and the Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (federation of German industries) as well as Deutsche Bank. Horst Köhler, German president, is the patron.