Tracking our progress

We have identified objectives and metrics to monitor our progress in relation to each of the five SDGs to which we are committed. To ensure transparency in our reporting, we have also included an indicator as to our current assessment of the likelihood of achieving the objective within the stated timeframe. This is to acknowledge the fact that many of our targets are ambitious in nature.

We have added some new metrics in 2022. No metrics have been removed since we reported in 2021. Some metrics from 2021 have been amended but this has not resulted in any restatement of prior year numbers. Where amendments have been made, the reasons are discussed in the Notes below the tables.

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Objective: No zero hour contracts within An Post

Objective: Reduce employee absenteeism due to injuries year on year ^N1

^N1 New commitment. See details in ‘Sustainability Reporting’ on p.11 and Appendix: UNEP FI on p. 64.

Objective: Reduce road traffic accident rate year on year

Objective: Strive for ISO 45001 certification at all An Post sites ^N2

^N2 New commitment. See details in ‘Sustainability Reporting’ on p.11 and Appendix: UNEP FI on p. 64.

Objective: Increase the proportion of women in senior management positions year on year ^N3

^N3 New commitment. See details in ‘Sustainability Reporting’ on p.11.

Objective: Reduce the mean gender pay gap ^N4

^N4 See ‘Health and safety’ on p.19 for further details.

Objective: Maintain minimum 5% disabled representation in workforce ^N5

^N5 We have amended the health and safety management metric to align with our compliance with ISO 45001, which we migrated to in 2021. This certification has replaced OHSAS 18001. 2018, 2019, and 2020 data refers to OHSAS 18001.

SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Objective: An Post have committed to spending €100m on sustainability capital expenditure by 2025

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

Objective: In rural areas 95% of the population will be within 15km of at least one post office

Objective: In urban areas 95% of the population will be within 3km of at least one post office

Objective: Offshore islands will retain their post offices

Objective: A post office in every community of over 500 people

SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

Objective: Maintain zero waste to landfill ^N6

^N6 2021 did not see an increase in our women in senior management metric. However, we expect the actions outlined in ‘Diversity, equity and inclusion’ on p.15 to bring us closer to achieving this commitment by 2030.

Objective: Reduce water usage 5% annually

Objective: Reduce the packaging that An Post places on the Irish market by 5% per annum

Objective: Achieve and maintain ISO 14000

Objective: Incorporate an auditing program of our top 20 suppliers ^N7

^N7 We have amended the gender pay gap metric to align with the language in our 2021 Gender Pay Report. This does not result in any restatement of prior year numbers.

Objective: 90% of An Post tenders to include sustainability criteria as an education category where appropriate ^N8

^N8 2021 saw a further decline in our disability representation metric. However, we expect the actions outlined in ‘SDG8: Decent Work and Economic Growth’ on p.13-21 to bring us back on track in 2022.

SDG 13: Climate Action

Objective: Reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2025 from 2009 baseline and to net zero from own operations by 2030

^N9 We have amended the waste metric to ‘maintenance’ to reflect the fact that this has already been achieved. This does not result in any restatement of prior year numbers.

^N10 We have amended the supplier auditing metric to ‘our top suppliers’ as we have achieved this with our top 20 and have expanded this programme of activity. This does not result in any restatement of prior year numbers. See ‘Sustainable procurement’ on p.35 for further details.

Objective: Achieve calculation and reporting of Scope 3 emissions for An Post by 2020 and for An Post service providers by 2021^N11

^N11 We have updated our sustainable procurement objective to give us greater visibility of our suppliers’ commitments. This objective replaced the 2020 objective to ‘Ensure materials are purchased from responsible sources, e.g. 100% paper FSC certified’. The new objective aims to ensure that 90% of our tenders include sustainability criteria where, in the opinion of the buyer in consultation with the evaluation team, it is proportionate and relevant to the subject matter.

^N12 Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from owned or controlled sources (e.g. fuel combustion, company vehicles). Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from purchased utilities (e.g. purchased electricity). The baseline year for Scope 1 and 2 emissions is 2009 and we use ISO 14064-1 methodology to calculate these. We report Scope 2 emissions using the market based method.

Objective: Reduce electricity use within buildings by 40% by 2022 from 2009 baseline

Objective: Replace all lighting with energy efficient lighting by 2022

Objective: 50% of the fleet to run on alternative fuel sources to diesel by 2025

Objective: Train 100% of drivers in eco-driving by 2023

^N14 A review of Scope 3 emissions in 2021 identified that emissions from our post office network, which are not directly within the An Post property portfolio, should be included in our figures, resulting in a rise in this number.

Objective: Improve fleet efficiency metrics by 3% per annum to 2025N15

^N15 Scope 3 emissions include all sources not within our Scope 1 and 2 boundaries (e.g. employee commuting, waste disposal etc) but do not include our subsidiaries.

Objective: All city centre deliveries in Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford to be by electric vehicles by end of 2020

^N16 In the Report next year, we will be reporting on the percentage of the vehicle fleet to run on alternative fuel sources to diesel, with the objective for this to be 50% by 2025. We are updating our electric vehicle metric to better represent our move to different sources of alternative fuels within our fleet. We will not be restating prior years.

Sustainabilty Reporting

Objective: Extend the number of green lending propositions in the Irish market, with at least two new green lending products offered by 2025^N17

^N17 Our eco-driver training is a combination of three programmes: eVan training, Pro-Drive and CPC mandatory training for C Licence holders.

Objective: Develop an deliver at least two new financial inclusion services for the community annually by 2025^N18

^N18 New commitment. See details in ‘Fleet efficiency’ section on p.43

Objective: An Post to ranked in Top 5 for the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) in Ireland

Objective: An Post to ranked in Top 5 for International Postal Corporation SMMS Programme

Objective: Achieve a silver medal in the EcoVodis sustainability rating^N19

^N19 This objective was extended to 2021 in our 2020 Sustainability Report as COVID-19 delayed the planned extension of emission-free deliveries.