Wallester is proud to announce that we have joined DHL Express’s GoGreen Plus Silver programme, which reduces the carbon footprint of air transport logistics by 30% at its baseline tier. But we are already aiming even higher, committing to a 35% reduction by the end of 2026.
What’s important is that this isn’t an offset scheme. It’s a direct investment in cleaner aviation fuel within our own supply chain, and it’s verified annually by independent auditors.
What GoGreen Plus Actually Does
The programme works through Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Essentially, SAF is a lower carbon alternative to conventional jet fuel, and it’s made from sources like waste cooking oil and agricultural residues. And when blended with traditional kerosene, SAF can reduce lifecycle CO₂ by up to 80% compared to fossil-based aviation fuel.
Wallester has joined the programme under the Silver tier, which means that 30% of the emissions from our DHL Express air shipments are reduced through SAF procurement. In general, DHL’s goal is to reach a minimum 30% SAF blend across its global aviation operations by 2030.
SGS, a Swiss independent inspection and certification body, calculates, tracks and verifies the emissions reduction each year. The result of the verification is a formal certificate documenting the precise tonnage of CO₂ equivalent reduced. This data can then be used directly in ESG reporting, sustainability disclosures, and CSRD (the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) compliance where applicable.
Insetting, Not Offsetting – And Why It Matters
There is an important distinction between offsetting and insetting that often gets lost in corporate sustainability announcements.
In short, offsetting means compensating for emissions by funding projects elsewhere. For example, planting trees or investing in renewable energy in another country. The emissions still happen; the theory is that equivalent carbon is removed or avoided somewhere else. But this approach has drawn increasing scrutiny. Critics point out that many offset projects fail to deliver promised results, and that the mechanism does nothing to decarbonise the activity itself.
On the other hand, insetting means reducing emissions within your own value chain – in this case, by investing in cleaner fuel for the aircraft that actually carry our shipments. The reduction is direct, measurable, and tied to our operations.
Also, this distinction matters for regulatory purposes, because under emerging EU emissions reporting requirements, only insetting – not offsetting – can be used to report actual CO₂ reductions. Companies subject to mandatory carbon disclosure will need to demonstrate real operational improvements and not just financial contributions to third-party projects.
Why Logistics Emission Matter for a Card Issuer
Wallester is a card issuing and payment infrastructure company, not a shipping business. Still, like any company that moves physical products – in our case, cards delivered to clients and end users across Europe and beyond – we have a logistics footprint.
Obviously, air freight is carbon-intensive. A single long-haul cargo flight can produce several hundred tonnes of CO₂. For companies that rely on express international delivery, air transport is often unavoidable, but its emissions profile is something that can be managed.
The GoGreen Plus programme gives us a practical mechanism to do that. It does not eliminate emissions entirely but it reduces them meaningfully and verifiably.
What Comes Next
Our first annual GoGreen Plus certificate will arrive in April 2027, covering the full 2026 calendar year. It will provide independently verified figures for the CO₂ equivalent reduced across our air shipments.
As SAF production scales globally and DHL expands its sustainable fuel sourcing, we expect opportunities to increase our commitment further in subsequent years.
Decarbonising logistics is not simple, and there are no perfect solutions available today. But investing in insetting through programmes like GoGreen Plus is a concrete step – one that produces measurable results within our own operations rather than relying on external projects of uncertain impact.
