Europa Road - Ahead of the Curve

As the drive for more transparency over sustainable practice grows, the EU’s new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) has set a bold expectation. Large companies (with more than 500 employees) are now required to report on sustainability, assessing the impact of the operations on people and the environment. This directive calls for companies to reveal their carbon footprint, marking a critical shift in how businesses approach environmental and social accountability. 

Staying ahead of the curve for new regulation, Europa Road’s Benelux team is demonstrating this commitment to environmental sustainability through its innovative partnerships and investments in sophisticated carbon reduction techniques.

Central to this approach is Europa’s partnership with Pledge, a sustainability platform that enables transparent, standards-compliant Scope 3 emissions reporting. With Pledge, Europa can now provide clients impacted by the CSRD with reliable, precise emissions data, empowering them to meet transparency requirements with confidence and ease.

Jack Baxter, Regional Manager for Europa Road in Benelux, said: “The European Environment Agency estimates that transport and logistics are responsible for approximately one quarter of the EU’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

“As such, it’s only right that new regulations should improve corporate transparency about sustainability practices”.

Europa Road’s Benelux team is taking various steps to reduce its own carbon footprint, as well as managing those of its customers. Initiatives include using the Eurotunnel, running efficient vehicles and trialing biodiesels on some of its Netherlands’s routes (HVO).

While not yet mandatory for businesses in the UK, similar requirements will apply to companies with interests in EU markets by 2028. For European businesses, they need to partner with a logistics operator who can provide them with accessible, compliant and comprehensive emissions reports.

Europa Road partnered with Pledge to ensure customer reports comply with international standards like Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and ISO 14083 (for GHG management). It helps track and report carbon emissions related to logistics activities, allowing Europa to support its clients in meeting emissions reporting requirements.

With streamlined ad hoc reporting and a robust internal knowledge base, paired with Europa’s twice-yearly complimentary emissions reporting, this offsetting option gives businesses a flexible, customer-centred approach to carbon management. 

Jack continues: “By investing in a sophisticated suite of technology and apps, which help us ensure compliance for our customers, we have a better understanding of their carbon impact and can suggest ways to reduce emissions.

“We can offer customers the opportunity to offset emissions by purchasing carbon credits or funding environmental projects like tree planting. This option is available via links sent along with the emissions reports.”

Europa’s Rotterdam team, along with the company’s Belgian operation in Ostend, performs more than 22,000 crossings of the channel per year. It is one of the largest, longest-standing commercial users of the Eurotunnel. LeShuttle Freight (the rail freight provider operating the Eurotunnel) connects EU countries to their UK markets, emitting 12 times less carbon emissions than by ferry and vastly improving transit times.

Efforts within Europa Road to make operations more sustainable are ongoing. Its parent company, Europa Worldwide Group, is headquartered in Dartford, UK, and recently achieved the internationally recognised ISO 14001 accreditation for environmental management.

As it works on furthering this commitment, the company recently achieved ISO 50001 for energy management, exploring green energy alternatives, and increasing the efficiency of its vehicles. The company already uses the telematics platform Microlise to increase fleet efficiency, reduce operating costs and increase safety standards.        

Europa Road teams in the Benelux region have been encouraging conversations around carbon insetting – proactively reducing emissions through improving operational efficiency. It recently trialed HVO as a replacement to Diesel on some transportation routes from the Netherlands to the UK.

Europa Road was previously known as Continental Cargo Carriers, changing its name in 2022. Subsequently the originally Ostend based firm expanded further by establishing a Dutch office in Rotterdam in February 2023. 

www.europa-worldwide.be

About Europa Worldwide Group

UK headquartered Europa Worldwide Group has three divisions - Road, Air & Sea, and Warehouse – and an ever-expanding global footprint. Over the past year the Group has expanded into the Middle East and Asia, with new sites established in Shanghai, Dubai, Delhi and Shenzhen.