NGO condemns surge in air freight pollution
- COVID-19 travel restrictions and supply chain disruptions boosted the air freight sector.
- The pandemic forced industries to shift to air freight for transporting a wider variety of goods.
- Online commerce has surged from $2.1 trillion in 2019 to $3.6 trillion in 2023.
On Wednesday, an environmental pressure group denounced the rising emissions of the air freight industry, fueled by global supply chain difficulties and increasing online commerce. Stand Earth, a US-Canadian group, reported that pollution from the air freight sector has increased by 25 percent since 2019.
The group’s report found that COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions and supply chain disruptions caused market distortions, which boosted the air freight cargo sector.
“Before the Covid-19 pandemic, air freight was dominated, logically, by perishable goods, time-sensitive deliveries, and luxury items,” said the report.
The pandemic forced industries to shift to air freight for transporting a greater variety of goods.
“What many assumed was a pandemic anomaly, however, is not only continuing but in some cases growing,” it said.
“While FedEx, UPS, and Amazon celebrate a new norm in the shipping industry, their success comes at a dire cost,” the report said.
The report stated that these “Big Three” players in the sector were responsible for 27 percent of global air freight greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to the emissions from 4.45 million homes in the United States. Stand Earth criticized Amazon for its rapid delivery business strategy, which includes same-day or overnight delivery for Prime members, for driving the growth in air freight emissions. Online commerce has surged in recent years, rising from $2.1 trillion in 2019 to $3.6 trillion in 2023, according to figures from the US Commerce Department.
While the group targets specialized air freight firms in its report, these firms make up only half the market, with commercial airlines carrying the rest on passenger flights. According to the airline trade association IATA, 62 million tonnes are expected to be shipped by air freight this year, a 7.6 percent increase from 2019. Although only one percent of global trade volume travels by air, air freight accounts for 35 percent of trade value.
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