Forto marks sustainability milestones

Forto, a leading provider of digitised freight forwarding and supply chain solutions, has announced the latest milestone achievement in its sustainability roadmap with more than 50% of Sea Freight Full Container Load (FCL) volumes booked with Forto’s carbon offset offering in the third quarter of 2021. In this period, 65% of Forto sea freight booking customers committed to offset the CO₂e emissions of their Sea Freight shipments, representing the highest percentage of customers to-date. The adoption rate was achieved well ahead of the company’s targeted forecast originally set for 2023.

The achievement signals an acceleration in customer adoption of climate-driven solutions and marks an important next step in the company’s long term goal to drive transformation towards sustainable supply chains. “We see these metrics as positive indicators of a significant market shift. Sustainability topics are moving to the forefront of customer agendas more than ever before,” explained Michael Wax (pictured), CEO and co-founder of Forto. “This is a pivotal point for the logistics sector and there is a huge opportunity for industry to drive innovation and new programmes forward that will dramatically impact trade, and of course, all people, our planet and future generations.”

Climate neutrality

In April 2021, Forto announced its goal to make its transports 100% climate neutral by 2025. A commitment to addressing the global impact of shipping and transport on people and planet is built into the Forto DNA and strategy. The Forto programme starts by providing customers with emissions visibility and information that empowers them to make impactful data-based decisions. The goal is for sustainable choices to become the default, which can be achieved by making climate action easy. The company reinforces this with its own investments on top of those of the customers.

Current Forto programmes and initiatives focus on:

• Transparency and visibility of climate impact. Forto believes that the first step towards action is knowledge. The company works with independent third parties to continually monitor and analyze the carbon footprint of the transports booked by its customers in order to identify inefficiencies and reduce emissions. This information is available for customers through emissions reporting on a shipment level.
• CO₂e Offsetting for All Transport Modes. Forto offers CO₂e offsets for all modes of transport, with offsetting being part of sea freight shipments by default. Taking climate action is easy with customers being able to set their offsetting preferences directly on the Forto platform on a global & shipment level. Leading brands in fashion, furniture and electronics are among the customers participating in the programme as part of their own sustainability initiatives.
• Forto’s own CO₂e Offsetting Commitment and 1+1 Matching. To further drive positive climate impact, Forto doubles each customer’s CO₂e offsets. In addition, Forto invests in automatically offsetting all Sea Freight Less than Container Load (LCL) shipments, so that they are 100% climate neutral at no additional cost to the customer.
• Alternative energy transport. Keeping in mind that offsetting is just a first step towards sustainable logistics, Forto is committed to exploring greener transport modes. For example, 90% of German-based Rail Pre- and On-Carriage intermodal volumes are transported using trains powered by renewable energy.
• Continual education and consultation. The company works to empower people to take climate action by listening, discussing, learning and innovating together. All Forto teams are trained by the company’s growing sustainability team to work together strategically with partners, customers and other stakeholders to explore sustainability options and find solutions that fit their needs.

Forto is also working to build a network of partners and collaborators on a global level to jointly achieve sustainability and climate goals. “Sustainability should become an integral part of any corporate philosophy,” added Dr. ing. Michael Ardelt, COO at Forto. “We hope to not only have an impact on our business, but that of the entire industry. That means working together with our customers, our partners, and a variety of companies to bring these sustainability initiatives forward together.”

The company strongly believes in a world of free and fair trade and connects the benefits of global trade with a sustainable way of transporting goods. Few other industries or achievements in human history had a similar effect on advancing people’s life standards across the globe like trade did. Beyond reducing environmental impact and improving social conditions – a sustainable and balanced company is also a future-proof company. Forto’s goal is to make supply chains future-proof while preparing the industry for the challenges of the next century.

Forto also strives to live sustainability from the inside out. Since its foundation, the company calculates, reduces and compensates its internal emissions footprint with the goal of CO₂e neutrality for internal operations. Forto also works each day towards building an inspiring and sustainable environment for their employees with initiatives such as green energy, organic food and a climate friendly travel policy. The company offers additional programmes such as planting trees instead of gifting products as employee rewards, and ongoing education and inspiration as well as training on sustainability topics.