United Parcel Service – Emissions and Climate (2021)
Outcome: 36.70%
WHEREAS: In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change updated the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement to advise that net carbon emissions must fall 45 percent by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050 to limit warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, thereby preventing the worst consequences of climate change. However, in 2020, the UN reported the world is “way off-track” from achieving these goals.
Climate change impacts present risks to investors. A warming climate is associated with increased supply chain disruptions, reduced resource availability, lost production, commodity price volatility, infrastructure damage, political instability, reduced worker efficiency, and adverse health impacts that disproportionally affect low-income communities and communities of color.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration identifies the transportation sector as the largest producer of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and its emissions are steadily increasing.
While UPS has set a climate science based target for its road operations, it has not made similar commitments for its airline. This is a problematic oversight as UPS’s airline accounts for 60 percent of its total operational emissions; emissions from UPS’s airline increased 22 percent from 2015 to 2019, leading to a 16 percent increase in its total operational footprint over the same timeframe.
More than 1,500 companies have now committed to achieve the Paris Agreement’s climate goals by becoming net zero by 2050, including UPS’s peer DHL Group. Amazon aims to achieve the Paris goals by 2040. Many airlines have committed to net zero operations by 2050 or sooner, including Delta, Qantas, British Airways, and American Airlines. Lufthansa and JetBlue are actively implementing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) that can reduce air emissions up to 80%.
Ramping up the scale, pace, and rigor of climate-related efforts may help unlock opportunities for growth as major business customers are increasingly demanding environmental accountability from suppliers. It may also help prepare UPS for future carbon-related regulations.
Given the impact of climate change on the economy, the environment, and human systems, and UPS’s contribution to it, proponents believe UPS has a responsibility to its investors and stakeholders to clearly account for whether, and how, it plans to reduce its ongoing climate impacts.
RESOLVED: Shareholders request UPS issue a report, at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, describing if, and how, it plans to reduce its total contribution to climate change and align its operations with the Paris Agreement’s goal of maintaining global temperature increases at or below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
SUPPORTING STATEMENT: In the report, shareholders seek information, among other issues at board and management discretion, on the relative benefits and drawbacks of integrating the following actions:
- Adopting overall short-, medium-, and long-term, absolute GHG emissions reduction targets for the Company’s full carbon footprint, including its airline, aligned with the Paris Agreement;
- Increasing the scale, pace, and rigor of initiatives aimed at reducing the carbon intensity of UPS’s services and operations;
- The feasibility of committing to net zero emissions by 2050, or sooner.
