Concern about sustainable global logistics is an urgent issue for maintaining life on Earth. The global logistics sector currently accounts for 11% of total carbon dioxide emissions worldwide, placing significant pressure on the industry to adopt more sustainable practices.
Strategies are already starting to emerge, as shown in the “European Logistics & Supply Chain Sustainability Report 2023”, developed by HFW & Panattoni. The study revealed that 72% of shippers said they include sustainability goals in their bidding processes.
The relevance of the subject also means that sustainable logistics appears in more and more academic works and papers by young people who are concerned with the topic. According to teacher Carla Dendasck, papers have become increasingly common in academia, but students have difficulties regarding the structure of this type of project: “Já faz alguns anos que as demandas nas instituições de ensino, especialmente graduação, estão pedindo o paper científico. Muitas dúvidas começam a surgir: como o que é paper e como fazer um paper acadêmico/científico (incluindo qual modelo seguir — uma pergunta bastante comum)”.
Based on information on Educamaisbrasil: "Paper acadêmico, também conhecido como paper científico, é um pequeno artigo que costuma ser utilizado em congressos e reuniões científicas e faz parte da rotina de quem está imerso nos estudos acadêmicos. A estrutura de um paper deve seguir as regras específicas da ABNT". In summary, academic papers, also known as scientific papers, are concise articles often used in conferences, summarizing research findings in a structured format as specified by academic standards such as those of ABNT in Brazil.
If understanding the paper structure itself is still difficult for many young professionals, it can be even more challenging to create a paper on sustainable global logistics. However, in this article, we will discuss several key points on the topic to provide a clearer understanding of this crucial subject.
Current State
Creating sustainable global logistics is a major challenge, and there are several organizations working towards this goal, with initiatives being developed and new laws and rules being established.
Some of the factors driving this movement can be understood by analyzing the report “European Logistics & Supply Chain Sustainability Report 2023”, developed by HFW & Panattoni. The document brings a series of insights and facts on current strategies being carried out across Europe, with a focus on logistics and supply chain.
Key points from the report are:
- 72% of shippers said they include sustainability goals in their bidding processes.
- 56% of these shippers are willing to terminate contracts if sustainability objectives are not met.
- 53% of shippers stated that they exclude forwarders from tenders that do not meet sustainability criteria.
In Brazil, the Federal Government also launched a sustainable logistics plan for 2023 - 2027. The goal of the document is to promote good resource management and efficiency of public spending with regard to sustainable logistics. The plan is made up of six points, each with objectives, goals, and initiatives. Check out a little about each point and the general goals:
| Point | Goals |
| Rational use of natural resources and public goods | - Reduce water consumption and office materials by 10%. - Reduce the use of paper and disposable cups by 50%. |
| Sustainable bidding | - Acquire, by 2027, at least 80% of the agency's consumable material items with sustainable attributes. |
| Waste Management | - Carry out the environmentally appropriate disposal of 70% of recyclable and organic waste, and 90% of rejects, as established in the goals of the National Solid Waste Plan. - Carry out the environmentally appropriate disposal of 90% of Health Service Waste – RSS (chemical and infectious). |
| Awareness-raising and training of servers | - Provide an annual training calendar. - Train 80% of employees. |
| Quality of life in the work environment | - Provide quality of life programs carried out by SENAPPEN to 100% of employees. |
| Sustainable constructions | - Execution by contracted companies of up to 70% of initiatives related to good actions in sustainable construction. |
Challenges in Sustainable Logistics
Despite the proposals and initiatives planned and implemented, there is still a long way to go. There are many challenges to sustainable logistics, and below we list some of them:
- More trips than necessary: in order to offer customers the best experience and agility in deliveries, many logistics companies end up making more trips than necessary, increasing gas emissions.
- High research costs: to create logistical strategies that prioritize sustainability, high investments in research are necessary, increasing the costs of the proposal.
- High costs and little feasibility for applying sustainable strategies: in many cases, the costs for implementing a sustainable initiative in logistics are very high, or the initiative itself is barely applicable depending on the country or region. We can mention the use of electric cars: despite being more sustainable, they are still not very viable in Brazil, for example, both due to the high cost of the car and the limited supply of charging stations available in the country.
- Regulatory complexities: new regulations are complex and take a long time to implement, significantly delaying sustainable objectives.
- The need for global cooperation: it is very important that there is a global effort to support studies and enable practices that truly change the logistics scenario to a more sustainable form. But this cooperation is often bureaucratic and slow.
Emerging Trends
Some emerging trends appear as possible solutions to achieve more sustainable logistics. Check out some of them:
- Data analysis: data analysis is one of the most efficient ways to study scenarios and define strategies. The data proves impact and efficiency, helping to allocate resources to where the difference will really be made.
- Green logistics: green logistics is made up of several practices that aim to reduce the impact on the environment, such as migrating processes to digital, using less paper; use of cloud servers and other digital solutions; use of electric vehicles, solar panels, etc.
- Circular economy: consists of maximum use of resources, avoiding waste.
Educational Innovations Reflecting Industry Needs
The importance of the topic of sustainable logistics means that this subject is increasingly addressed in educational institutions, as we mentioned at the beginning of this article. Whether by the students themselves, bringing the topic as the focus of their papers and other academic work, or by the institution itself, with research initiatives and extension projects focused on developing sustainable logistics.
In Brazil, a series of universities have been focusing on the topic, such as the University of Pernambuco (UPE), which recently published its Sustainable Logistics Plan (PLS), with a focus on advancing the commitment to contribute to the construction of a more sustainable university.
Another example is Venice International University, which presents an area of focus on sustainable logistics and economic growth, and presents the objectives and project initiatives within the theme.
Conclusion
As we can see throughout this article, there is a long way to go towards efficient and sustainable logistics. The challenges are many, ranging from the need for high investments in financial resources to the difficulties generated by the bureaucratization of legislation.
But what we cannot deny is that the industry is seeing the importance of the issue, and is coming under increasing pressure to implement shipping IT practices that prioritize the environment. This is reflected in the interest of students in the topic, which is increasingly being included as a focus of papers and other academic works, and also in the way in which educational institutions have been dedicating specific actions and strategies to make the logistics of their operations more sustainable.
