The G7 countries still want to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to zero in this century. This was announced by the national leaders in early June at the G7 Summit in Schloss Elmau in Bavaria. By mid-2050, the G7 want to have converted their energy supply to renewable energies. Until then, the global CO2 emissions are to be reduced to one-third of the amount in 2010. This is a major challenge, including for the aviation industry and its supply chain.
Guests from science, politics and business
For some time now, Lufthansa Cargo has been staging the “Cargo Climate Care Conference” every two years. Customers and suppliers are invited to the conference to discuss environmentally friendly and sustainable logistics. The event also includes renowned personalities from science, politics and business as guests – for example Mojib Latif, one of the most renowned climatologists in Germany, was invited two years ago. This year, guests included Dr. Prof. Dr. Lucia A. Reisch, Professor of International Consumer Research and Policy, Uwe Brendle of the Federal Ministry for Environment and Transport and Dr. Werner Reh of the Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany (BUND).
Push, pull, nudge
In her presentation entitled, “Push, pull, nudge – how can supply chains become greener”, Lucia A. Reisch, Professor of International Consumer Research and Policy from the Copenhagen Business School, explained what “Nudging”, the newly discovered policy instrument, is about.
“Nudging” was neither force nor control, but more than information or advice. It was roughly outlined as the proactive reaction to anything that might occur in the future. It is no longer enough to consider only the immediate production emissions, but we must also pay attention to how “green” – and ethics would be a big issue here – the production chain looks. The motto here is to be “at the forefront”, also in logistics. In the future, green measures would also make a positive impact on the cost side. It would be smart, not only to accept this, but also to be right at the forefront in setting standards in our own company. Those who have closely followed the G7 have also heard that supply chains are now high on the political agenda. Environmental awareness is now established in society and the C02 footprint is measurable.
Magic square replaces magic triangle
Investors are increasingly interested in how their money is being invested and we now no longer speak of a “magic triangle” but a “magic square”, explained Dr. Ingo Schoenheit, Managing Director of imug Beratungsgesellschaft für sozial-ökologische Innovationen, mbH, from Hannover.
In addition to the three traditional investment criteria (yield, safety and availability), sustainability and ethics are playing an increasingly important role in the considerations. Rating agencies, customers and suppliers are increasingly evaluating companies according to this.
“More logistics and less CO2 – necessary goal or green wishful thinking?” was also the subject of the first panel discussion at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, which was debated by Gunnar Gburek, Head of Logistics, the German Association of Materials Management, Purchasing and Logistics, Prof. Dr. Lucia A. Reisch, Andrea Schön of Schenker in Essen and Monika Wiederhold, Head of Product Management & Innovation at Lufthansa Cargo.
Independent of oil – When?
Dr. Franziska Müller-Langer of the Biomass Research Centre in Leipzig gave a lecture on alternative fuels for aviation. In the subsequent panel discussion, Uwe Brendle, Head of Environment and Trans- port, from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conser- vation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Lufthansa employee Joachim Buse, Vice President of Aviation Biofuel, Dr. Franziska Müller-Langer and Dr. Werner Reh, Head of Transport Policy, Association for Environmental and Nature Conservation Germany (BUND), exchanged views on fuel concepts for the future and on “when we will be independent of oil”. Ultimately, it is also a question of what value we place on the future of our planet and the ‘two-degree target’ value. It is a question of the price. Even the price of oil is unpredictable, even though it does not look like that at the moment, Dr. Reh pointed out.
Earth from above
Two futher topics of the day were the presentations by Dr. Robert Meisner of the European Space Academy (ESA) and by George Steinmetz from New Jersey. Meisner showed how “Satellites see the Earth”. The American Steinmetz takes pictures of deserts. With an ultra-lightweight parasail he flew over the deserts of the Earth from a height of about 200 metres, while shooting photos. (jwm)
Photos: Gregor Schläger