LONDON, UK, March 17, 2025delivers letters and parcels to each of the UK's 32 million addresses. It is now working with Watershed, the leading enterprise sustainability platform, to measure and analyse emissions data to decarbonise its supply chain. This partnership reflects the evolution of Royal Mail's sustainability programme as the country's greenest delivery option for letters and parcels*, purchasing 100% renewable electricity and operating the UK's largest electric van delivery fleet of 6,000 electric vans. Through Watershed, Royal Mail has access to high-quality emissions data to inform its decarbonisation actions and respond to sustainability disclosure demands from regulators, customers, investors, and other stakeholders.
Over the course of their engagement, Royal Mail will leverage Watershed's climate data engine and Scope 3 decarbonisation expertise to reduce its carbon footprint, including its supply chain emissions-which account for around 66% of their total emissions. Royal Mail has set an SBTi-validated Net-Zero target which includes reducing Scope 3 emissions by 25% by 2030 and 90% by 2040, against a 2020-21 base year.
"Watershed enables Royal Mail to access granular insights to engage with our diverse range of suppliers and plan emissions reductions. Watershed helps us understand which actions will be most effective for reaching our Net-Zero 2040 goal," said Miles Durrant, Head of Climate Strategy & Circular at Royal Mail.
In just two months, Royal Mail used Watershed to produce a draft carbon footprint including over three thousand suppliers and vendors. 10% of Royal Mail's supplier data was automatically available and populated by Watershed based on public reports. Working together, Royal Mail and Watershed will use the footprint to identify the most impactful levers for supply chain decarbonisation.
"It is a privilege to work with Royal Mail to help measure the postal service's carbon footprint and, ultimately, execute on their climate goals," said Ellen McCormack, Head of Europe at Watershed. "Royal Mail is a leader in decarbonising the logistics sector and, together with Watershed's data measurement and management, our potential impact on the industry's sustainability progress is huge."
About International Distribution Services plc: International Distribution Services plc is the parent company of Royal Mail Group Limited, the leading provider of postal and delivery services in the UK and the UK's designated universal postal service provider. Royal Mail comprises the company's UK and international parcels and letters delivery businesses operating under the "Royal Mail" and "Parcelforce Worldwide" brands. Through the Royal Mail Core Network, the company delivers a one-price-goes-anywhere service on a range of parcels and letters products. Royal Mail has the capability to deliver to around 32 million addresses in the UK, six days a week (excluding UK public holidays). Parcelforce Worldwide operates a separate UK network which collects and delivers express parcels. International Distribution Services plc also owns General Logistics Systems (GLS) which operates one of the largest ground-based, deferred parcel delivery networks in Europe.
About Watershed: Watershed is the enterprise sustainability platform. Companies like FedEx, British Airways, An Post, Inchcape, Spotify, and Revolut use Watershed to manage climate and ESG data, produce audit-ready metrics for voluntary and regulatory reporting including CSRD, and drive real decarbonisation. Watershed's measurement methodology is based on science-based targets to enable measurements with materials-specific emissions factors, including DEFRA. Watershed customers also have exclusive access to a marketplace of pre-vetted, high-quality carbon projects and groundbreaking virtual power purchase agreements. Through its customers, Watershed currently manages an estimated 2 gigatonnes of CO2 emissions, roughly equal to the total annual emissions of Japan.
* Based on average gCO2e emissions per parcel delivered by UK parcel operators, as published by Citizens Advice 2024 Parcels League Table.
Amelia Penniman Watershed amelia@watershed.com
