An Post has said it expects to cut carbon emissions by half by 2025, despite a slight increase in CO2 emissions in 2023. 

The national postal service has committed to net zero emissions by 2030 and reduce emissions by 2025, based on its 2009 emissions. 

According to its 2023 Sustainability Report published today, An Post saw a 1.7% increase in carbon emissions, compared to a 10% decrease in 2022. 

This is the second biggest increase in emissions the service has seen in recent years, with a 15.4% increase in carbon emissions in 2020. 

Chief Transformation Officer Nicola Woods acknowledged the slight increase in emissions, noting that “reduction does not always follow a linear path, particularly in a growing and thriving business”. 

“2023 was a record-breaking year in terms of the volume of packets and parcels that we delivered across Ireland, and this inevitably resulted in an increase in emissions,” she said. 

“However, we did succeed in reducing average emission levels per letter delivered by 12% year-on-year, and by 4.4% for packets and parcels."

An Post also reported a 2.7% increase in total energy used in 2023 and a 5.4% rise in emissions from road transport. 

An Post sustainability goals

According to the report, the postal service achieved in training all drivers in eco-driving by 2023. 

An Post announced it is changing most of its national HGV and delivery van fleet from diesel to a cleaner hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel. 

Ms Woods told Newstalk the fuel change will allow An Post to reach its carbon reduction targets sooner than planned. 

“Between the use of HVO and together without plan to increase the number of electric vehicles,” she said. 

“It just means we're doing the right thing for the communities we serve across the nation.” 

An Post introduced 17 large HVO-fuelled trucks in Galway and Cork in 2022, resulting in a 91.8% reduction in carbon emissions compared to diesel fuel.

According to An Post, the organisation delivered 60.2 million packets and parcels and 301.8 million in 2023.

Its sustainability targets are "guided" by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Other goals include reducing packaging waste and for An Post to be ranked in the top five for the Carbon Disclosure
Project (CDP) in Ireland - it is currently ranked fifth.

An Post has invested over €71 million in sustainability capital expenditure to support the decarbonisation of the company and expects this figure to rise to €100 million by 2025.