According to a study conducted by the International Energy Agency (IEA), up to 37% of global greenhouse gas emissions are due to transportation, which is one of the most important parts of logistics.
Currently, developing economies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America are expected to triple their freight demand by 2050. This will lead to a doubling of greenhouse gas emissions. In this new context, sustainable development represents a trend for all economies, meaning developing green logistics is becoming more urgent than ever.
Faced with these changes, many businesses in the transportation industry have duly invested in upgrading equipment, switching from running on oil to using electricity or clean fuels for cranes and vehicles running in ports.
Truong Nguyen Linh, deputy general director of Vietnam International Container Terminal (VICT), said, "The seaport management system is really large and many subsystems can be upgraded, in addition to investing in developing the electronic port system.
This year we are also trying to achieve ISO 9001 standardization, further we are trying to get ISO 14,000 certification for environmental issues, and ISO 45,000 for human health."
According to Linh, VICT is also carrying out a number of solutions aimed at reducing dust in the air and noise, such as using barges to transport goods instead of container trucks.
In 2023, this unit will also start switching to an electronic seaport model (Eport) in a bid to help customers update the status of actual ship and cargo data 24/7, thereby aiming to achieve the criteria of building a "green port" in 2024.
For businesses operating in the road transport sector, greening is viewed as a significant challenge. Accordingly, green logistics is mainly implemented through replacing vehicles using internal combustion engines with electric or hybrid vehicles, as well as making use of biofuels and sustainable fuels in transport.
However, according to experts, the transport infrastructure in the nation is still not complete, especially in remote areas. This therefore makes it difficult to deploy environmentally friendly means of transport such as electric vehicles.
The lack of supporting infrastructure such as charging stations for electric vehicles, warehouses, and green distribution centres is also a barrier for enterprises.
Harry Lu, development director of Sunny Auto Company, shared, "If we switch from diesel vehicles to electric vehicles, we will reduce at least 50 - 60% of carbon emissions. If the trucks are charged by solar energy, the carbon emissions will reach over 90%. However, the current conditions in Vietnam are not very suitable, because there are not enough large-capacity charging stations."
MSc. Cao Minh Nghia, deputy head of Economic Development Department under the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies, said firms need to link together in order to create collective strength.
“Small businesses should link up with large ones that already have a complete system to receive support for mutual development. The state's support is needed while businesses need to accompany the government to change their mindset and perception that logistics transformation is an important task," Nghia shared.
Greening the transportation industry or green logistics is not only a responsibility, but can also be viewed as a driving force and an urgent requirement.
In the context of increasingly deep international economic integration as we see today, if firms do not quickly and immediately implement the criteria to green the logistics industry, then in the future enterprises will face many difficulties and gradually be "eliminated" from business, trade, and import-export activities both domestically and globally.
