Klima Protect | Sustainable shipping with GLS*

For us, sustainable parcel shipping means that, in addition to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions generated by parcel shipping as part of the GLS Climate Protect environmental strategy by converting the fleet of delivery vehicles to alternative drive types, using renewable energies and increasing energy efficiency at our locations, we as GLS Germany will additionally and voluntarily offset a calculated amount of greenhouse gas emissions (approx. 140,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalents) for the 2025/26 financial year (01.04.2025 - 31.03. 2026), we will additionally and voluntarily offset a calculated amount of greenhouse gas emissions (approx. 140,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalents) - which arise from the transport of parcels from our business customers - via certified climate protection projects to avoid and remove greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere and to support sustainable forest management and reforestation with our partner company ClimatePartner (see project overview below).

The climate protection projects for offsetting greenhouse gas emissions, in which GLS Germany invests in cooperation with ClimatePartner, help to avoid and remove greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere and support sustainable forest management and reforestation (see project overview below). The impact of these climate protection projects results from the reforestation (approx. 13,000 hectares) and preservation of the CO2 storage capacity of forests (approx. 8,000 hectares) in Colombia as well as the expansion of wind and solar energy plants in India, which reduces the use of fossil energy generation plants and avoids the greenhouse gas emissions associated with electricity generation.

As GLS Germany, we offer our business customers the offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions caused by parcel shipping via the climate protection projects selected by us in cooperation with ClimatePartner as an individual service on request. This service includes offsetting the amount of greenhouse gases resulting from the calculated product of the number of parcel and freight shipments of business customers multiplied by the value of the average greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 equivalents per parcel and freight shipment) for the respective shipping country. As our offsetting partner, ClimatePartner acquires on behalf of General Logistics Systems B.V. (GLS B.V.) on the voluntary offsetting market so-called Verified Emission Reductions (VERs) - verified emission reductions that confirm that a certain amount of greenhouse gas emissions has been reduced, avoided or removed through climate protection projects - in the amount of greenhouse gas emissions calculated and selected for GLS Germany for offsetting (approx. 140,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalents for the financial year 2025/26 / 01.04.2025 - 31.03.2026).

Based on these VERs, ClimatePartner issues its own offsetting certificates for the business customers of GLS Germany who utilise offsetting as a service on demand, confirming that the amount of greenhouse gas emissions stated on the certificates has been offset. The GLS B.V. website provides a detailed overview of the process from the purchase of the VERs to the issue of the offset certificates by ClimatePartner.

The climate protection projects supported by GLS Germany to offset greenhouse gas emissions are certified according to international standards, such as the Gold Standard (GS), which was developed by the WWF and other environmental organisations (see project overview below). As an international standard for the certification of climate protection projects, the GS is characterised by a focus on additional sustainability aspects in addition to the consideration of greenhouse gas emissions.

Projects certified in accordance with the GS therefore also make a positive contribution to sustainable development and environmental protection. The climate protection projects for offsetting greenhouse gas emissions in which GLS Germany invests in cooperation with ClimatePartner differ according to the type of verified emission reductions (VERs) on which they are based. VERs for the avoidance of emissions (so-called ‘avoidance carbon credits’) originate from compensation projects that prevent potential greenhouse gas emissions from being released into the atmosphere. For example, renewable energy projects - such as wind and solar power - that replace fossil fuel-based electricity sources contribute to the avoidance of future greenhouse gas emissions.

VERs for the removal of emissions (so-called ‘removal carbon credits’) come from compensation projects that remove greenhouse gas emissions that have already been emitted from the atmosphere and store them over a longer period of time. For example, afforestation and reforestation projects remove greenhouse gases by absorbing CO₂ through photosynthesis processes and storing it in trees.