Roberto Cirillo CEO
Dear Reader
Swiss Post is right here. For everyone. That will remain the case in future, and Swiss Post is aware of its special responsibility towards individual citizens, Swiss society and the environment. For this reason, sustainability is a decisive factor in our corporate decisions. We wish to make our contribution to sustainable development by acting as a pioneer and a role model – for the benefit of Switzerland as a whole.
In all its endeavours, Swiss Post strives to strike the right balance between commercial success, an environmentally-friendly approach and social responsibility, while taking account of the needs of current and future generations. And this is having an impact: Swiss Post is well ahead in comparison to other international postal organizations. We have been named the world’s best postal service by the Universal Postal Union for the third time in a row. That stands us in good stead for future challenges and inspires us to continue to be mindful of our responsibility and remain at the forefront in future.
Our corporate responsibility strategy 2017–2020 focuses on five priority areas of action: responsible procurement, climate and energy, responsible employer, circular economy and corporate citizenship. They form the basis for our sustainability objectives and measures.
To ensure transparent and comparable reporting and to promote dialogue, we review the key topics of corporate responsibility annually in our Sustainability Report, and the results are evident.
We are making a verifiable contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals as well as to the Federal Council’s Sustainable Development Strategy for Switzerland. We remain committed to the ten principles of the UN Global Compact. At the end of 2019, we reached and exceeded our ambitious CO2 efficiency target – an improvement of 25 percent by 2020 compared to 2010.
In line with customer requirements, we are developing new products and services for a resource-friendly and circular economy. We focus on sustainable and responsible procurement, promote our employees’ performance and are committed to working for the common good as part of our corporate citizenship.
Our activities and references are very diverse: thanks to our energy-efficient fleet and our promotion of renewable energies, we are continually reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. Out of all the European postal organizations, we have the biggest electric scooter fleet for deliveries, with around 6,000 three-wheeled vehicles powered by certified eco-electricity.
We aim to use mainly e-vehicles for parcel deliveries in urban centers by 2025, and to deliver all letters and parcels using only electric vehicles by 2030.
All addressed letters and PromoPost consignments in Switzerland are already transported carbon-neutrally. When sending parcels and other consignments, our customers can offset the CO2 emissions with “pro clima” shipment.
We are also setting an example in our buildings by avoiding fossil fuels for heating systems in new developments and renovations. We are driving forward the withdrawal from fossil fuels as part of sustainability. In addition, we operate some of Switzerland’s largest photovoltaic systems on the roofs of our letter and parcel centers. Our systems produced over 7 GWh of solar power in total in 2019.
Transparency and fairness are also important to us in procurement. We expect our producers to implement high social standards and to respect human rights. The Fair Wear Foundation has awarded us Leader status every year since 2014. We give used clothing a new lease of life. Items in good condition are either given to charitable organizations, where they are resold, or they are repurposed into bags and laptop cases through upcycling.
Promoting the diversity of our workforce is particularly important to us. We have around 56,000 employees from 140 nations. They speak different languages, live in different ways and have chosen various lifestyles. This represents tremendous value added for Swiss Post. In 2019, we completely revised our Code of Conduct, which applies to all employees. Discrimination and bullying have no place at Swiss Post.
To ensure our employees’ well-being, we optimize their working environments and assist them with advice and support measures in difficult circumstances. We are also Switzerland’s third largest training provider, with around 1,900 apprentices. That equates to just under 6 percent of our headcount in Switzerland. Our employees are not only the face of Swiss Post to the public – they are Swiss Post.
Finally, we support charitable initiatives where we can provide value added with our core competencies. One example is the “2 × Christmas” campaign, which we support by providing logistics solutions free of charge, or the Santa Claus campaign, where over 20,000 children’s letters receive a personal response from Father Christmas thanks to Swiss Post employees.
For all of these issues, it is not looking back that matters, and even the status quo is only of limited significance. More important is looking forward, assuming responsibility for the environment and future generations, and the opportunities this presents.
The materiality analysis carried out with internal and external stakeholders in 2019 confirmed and expanded the focus areas previously set and lays the foundation for the priorities in the new strategy period and further ahead until 2030. In particular, we are focusing on digitization and data protection, climate and energy, innovation, customer experience, environmentally and socially responsible procurement, and our products and services.
As a universal provider in the fields of communications and logistics, the backbone of mobility between urban and rural areas and a payment transactions partner, Swiss Post contributes vital added value to the Swiss economy. We want to play our part in ensuring sustainable development, and we take our responsibility very seriously!
