DHL Global Forwarding the air and ocean freight specialist of Deutsche Post DHL Group has moved two giant pandas from Chengdu, China, to Ähtäri, Finland, via climate neutral transportation. The carbon emissions for the flight are offset through a climate protection project.
The journey of the pandas from the Dujiangya giant panda center took them first to the Chengdu airport on January 17, from where they were flown 6,500km (4,038 miles) directly to Helsinki. The male, Huá Bào, or Pyry by its new Finnish name (aged four), and the female, Jín Bàobào, or Lumi (aged three), were accompanied on their journey by two animal handlers and two veterinary physicians, in addition to 120kg (264 lb) of bamboo.
Finland and the People’s Republic of China signed a 15-year agreement on joint research on giant pandas last spring. The removal of Lumi and Pyry to Ähtäri Zoo is part of the agreement.
Veli-Matti Qvintus, managing director of DHL Global Forwarding Finland, said, “DHL’s logistics skills and capabilities have been used in various endangered species conservation projects in recent years. Planning and executing challenging transportations is part of our expertise. In the spirit of DHL’s environmental goals, we made this a GoGreen Climate Neutral transport, compensating the flight emissions through investments in a certified GoGreen Climate protection project”.
With GoGreen Climate Neutral service, DHL purchases carbon credits from selected projects that meet high standards, reducing emissions and benefitting local communities. The emissions for the panda flight are calculated to be 230 tons of CO?e, which will be offset through a climate protection project that reduces emissions by enabling low-income families in the rural Chinese province of Sichuan to switch from coal to household biogas digesters.
Deutsche Post DHL Group aims to reduce all its logistics-related emissions to net zero by the year 2050, and offering green solutions is an important part thereof.
January 23, 2018