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Logistics as a sector has a key role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and in reducing the dependency of our economy on non-renewable energy sources. The challenges are enormous: by 2050 the sector needs to have achieved about 50% lower fossil fuel use and CO₂ emissions. If freight volumes grow according to expectations, this requires over 70% less CO₂ emissions per unit of transport. This chapter explores the options for reducing CO₂ emissions from freight transport and their reduction potential, and analyses whether the logistic sector would be likely to achieve the required reduction based on its intrinsic drive for cost reduction alone.

In this conceptual chapter we identify options for sustainable logistics and discuss the necessary economic conditions for their deployment using a simple cost/benefit analysis framework. We distinguish between three regimes of measures for improving sustainability: efficiency measures with net negative costs (‘low hanging fruit’), cost-neutral measures and measures that allow to reach societal targets at net positive costs. Policy measures are discussed that may help the sector to implement cost-effective greenhouse gas abatement measures that, in the absence of incentives, go beyond the point of lowest cost from an end user perspective.

Sufficient energy saving options are available to be implemented in the short to medium term, which can lead to operational cost savings with a short return on investments period. The potential contribution of the logistics sector to sustainability is larger, however, as logistics can make large steps ahead in sustainability with cost neutrality or with small cost increases. The full potential has been underrated by many stakeholders and should be explored further.

Efficiency measures are a necessary but insufficient condition for sustainable logistics. The industry will need to go beyond cost saving measures, or even cost-neutral measures to reach the long-term energy saving and emission reduction targets for freight transport. We provide a systematic presentation of these options and discuss the additional necessary measures.

This paper aims to measure carbon footprints (CFs) of products at the sectoral levels. The paper also aims to provide potential solutions to adopt greener supply chains to minimise CFs.

The assessment of CFs uses a data set for nine sectors and environmental extended input output tables, as well as other six models. The analysis uses modules for regional economy, freight, logistics and mode choice, among other modules. The output of these modules includes increases or cuts in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions following a shift in supply chains.

The authors identify five supply chains that are closely connected to the growth of CFs. The highest CF is found for the electronics and textiles products. Offshoring manufacturing capacity produces an increase of emissions (production and freight transport sectors) of 42 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions, or 12 per cent of the Kyoto target of 341 million tonnes of CO₂. Using a different metric to measure emissions, offshoring the same volume of production appears as a reduction in European Union (EU)-wide CO₂ emissions. To reduce CO₂ emissions, the authors propose a carbon tax on imports, increasing R&D subsidies to industry and freight sectors and on-shoring a greater volume of production into the EU economies, among other measures.

This paper only measures CFs at the sectoral level. Further work should include survey data on CFs, longer historical data series and larger set of products for assessment. Another limitation is the lack of analysis of freight transport flows of non-EU regions, (i.e. China and Latin America).

The authors propose the following measures: at least five policies to offset offshoring of production, several measures to reduce carbon emissions, propose introducing mandatory audits for CFs and mandatory labelling. This work has implications for carbon taxation of exports and imports in an effort to decarbonise European and global supply chains.

Social implications include the need to lower personal goods consumption in the EU to minimise the impact of supply chains on carbon emissions; the need to tax exports/imports may have an impact on jobs in the EU, among other effects.

This paper is the only study that uses the TRANS-TOOLS model and the only study to measure CFs of products within the context of freight transport flows within the EU. The analysis relies on inputs from several modules that apply data on 24 EU economies.

This paper aims to highlight the importance and need to include carbon emissions from international transport in the sourcing decisions of corporate organizations and the calculation of national emissions inventories (NEIs).

The paper proposes a method of attributing emissions from international transportation in global supply chains and calculating their impact on the economic sustainability of corporate organizations through a carbon price.

An application of the original model developed in this paper showed that international transport emissions can have an important effect on NEIs. An example of the imports of manufactured items from China and Germany to the USA showed a 3 per cent increase in emissions from manufacturing activities in the USA.

Introducing carbon pricing on international transport emissions is expected to motivate corporate leaders to include emissions from international transport as a factor in their sourcing decisions.

Inclusion of international transport emissions along with the imposition of a carbon tax are designed to act as disincentives to generating emissions from supply chain activities. It is argued that the implementation of the model may provide long-term benefits associated with reduced emissions and a level playing field to organizations which use efficient technologies in manufacturing.

It is recognized that the implementation of a carbon tax on international transport emissions may face resistance from several stakeholders, including governments of exporting countries, corporations and customers, due to an increase in cost.

This paper provides an original method to include emissions from international transport in supply chain decisions.

Purpose – To examine the cost-effectiveness of UK government policy with respect to the mitigation of carbon emissions from the transport sector.

Methodology/approach – Existing policy as set out by the Department for Transport in Low Carbon Transport: A Greener Future is examined. This document elaborates a Low Carbon Transport Strategy intended to achieve annual emissions savings of 17.7 MtCO2 by 2020. A wide range of policy areas where further action could be taken to reduce carbon emissions are examined and their cost-effectiveness considered.

Findings – Measures that influence behaviour including smarter choices, eco-driving across modes, freight best practice and modest price increases are highly cost-effective. More cost-effective routes to saving 17.7 MtCO2 are identified, as are further cost-effective savings.

Originality/value – It appears that government targets could be delivered and indeed exceeded at lower cost than the Low Carbon Transport Strategy. However, policy development is influenced by a wide range of factors which help to explain why cost-effective measures are not always fully exploited.

Road transport is an important sector of the economy, however, its negative impacts on the environment, human health and sustainability of potential economic growth are significant. Transport externalities tend to be neglected within the market process. The damage generated through significant externalities of road transport in Czechia was identified, based on unique data processing, to reach almost 3.5 billion € annually. This chapter presents an overview of internalization taxes and fees, their current rates and generated receipts. If excise duty is disregarded as fundamentally unsuitable for the internalization of externalities, then the receipts from other applied taxes and fees, particularly the road tax, seem to be insufficient. Although economic growth is encouraged, its form is not sustainable in view of the rising phase of the Kuznets curve and the related irreversible environmental impacts.

The purpose of this paper is to test the efficacy of the concept of food miles that has proved so popular with the public as a means of assessing the sustainability of produce.

This paper uses data from a UK major food importer and retailer to correlate carbon emissions from transport, and transport‐related storage, with food miles by creating farm‐specific mode‐weighted emission factors.

The correlation is found to be poor for a wide range of products and locations and it is clear that the mode of transport is as important as the distance, with sourcing from parts of the Mediterranean resulting in emissions greater than those from the Americas.

It is concluded that it is difficult to justify the use of food miles when attempting to influence purchasing behaviour. Because of this result, processes and tools have been developed that relay information on true transport‐related carbon emissions to customers and bulk purchasers that allow them to make informed decisions.

This paper questions the value of using the concept of food miles as a driving force for changing purchasing behaviour by either the customer or the purchasing department of a retailer.