Two very different networks, one net-zero playbook

What looks like an obvious ESG move in one market can be commercially or operationally difficult in another.

Most CEP leaders need sustainability approaches that work in their reality: their regulation, infrastructure, climate risks and balance sheet.

That is very much the case with Geopost in Europe and Pos Malaysia in Southeast Asia, two CEPs that operate in vastly different contexts on opposite sides of the earth.

While their networks, regulations and risk profiles are worlds apart, both Geopost and Pos Malaysia are finding their own way to make sustainability fit for context and commercially relevant. There is no single template, just shared principles applied in very different ways.

To find out more about their ESG journeys, download our industry report, ‘Courier, Express and Parcel Outlook 2026, The interconnected challenges’.

Two contexts, one shared ambition

Geopost runs one of Europe’s largest cross-border parcel networks under intense regulatory, market and ESG scrutiny. Around 90% of its emissions come from road transport, so its science-based net-zero pathway focuses heavily on line-haul fuels, fleet transition and network redesign.

Pos Malaysia, meanwhile, operates in a monsoon-prone market with subsidised fuel, a different regulatory landscape and different end-consumer expectations. Its core challenges include flood resilience, cost-sensitive customers and the need to modernise with limited room for price increases.

What they share is not a common context, but a common conviction: sustainability has to be built into business strategy, not bolted on as a reporting exercise.

ESG that makes sense in context

Geopost and Pos Malaysia both agree that ESG measures only work if they make sense in their setting.

Geopost emphasises science-based targets and a carbon budget process, aligning investments with both emissions reductions and business performance across a decentralised group. As Caryn-Ann Allen, Associate Director of Sustainability, says:
“For the last two years we’ve had a Science Based Targets initiative–approved target to be net zero by 2040 and achieve a 43% emissions reduction by 2030. The target lets our business units align on a common objective: decarbonising operations.”

Pos Malaysia’s Head of Sustainability, Jarod Ho, focuses on cost-effective electrification and network merger, using leasing and partnerships to scale EVs and route optimisation while keeping OPEX under control in a low-fuel-price market:
“Many assume our shift from traditional engine vehicles to EVs has involved quite high CAPEX costs, but they’re actually leased, and we’ve achieved OPEX savings of at least 30%.”

Neither is chasing ESG headlines for their own sake. Each is choosing levers that fit their infrastructure, customer base and regulatory reality

Fleet and network: same themes, different execution

Fleet electrification and network optimisation are important to both operators, but with different emphasis:

Geopost is scaling EVs across First and Last Mile, piloting alternative fuels like HVO for line-haul, shifting depots closer to end-consumers and redesigning its network to cut emissions and cost together.

Pos Malaysia is merging mail and parcel networks, installing telematics on vehicles, and proving that, in its context, leased EVs can deliver lower operating costs – even where fossil fuel is relatively cheap.

Both treat sustainability as an efficiency and resilience lever, not a separate project. As Jarod Ho points out:
“As a sustainability team, we’re not going to achieve net zero by ourselves. It’s very much co-driven by teams across the business.”

For both operators, their actions are similar in theme, but tuned to local realities.

Our Courier, Express and Parcel Outlook 2026 details the specific levers each operator has used and the verified emissions reductions achieved. Download the report for the full breakdown.

Data, transparency and customer value

Both operators invest heavily in better data and more transparent reporting, but in ways that fit their markets:

Geopost works with emerging standards like EN 17837 and uses advanced calculators to get closer to per-parcel emissions, feeding this into business customer tools and reports.

Pos Malaysia uses telematics and in-house calculators to report emissions to major B2B customers at the level that matters to them today, while steadily improving granularity.

In both cases, credible data is becoming a commercial asset: proof that claims about low-emission delivery are backed by that numbers customers can use in their own ESG reporting. As Jarod Ho reveals:
“It’s then really important to heavily audit the data before we pass it onto our customers to ensure it’s transparent, accountable and not just greenwashing per se.”

A flexible playbook, not a fixed route

The strongest message from both operators is that there is no single ‘right’ way to decarbonise a CEP network. What matters is:

1. Fit for context – picking levers that make operational and financial sense in each market.
2. Integrated with strategy – linking ESG goals directly to growth, resilience and licence to operate.
3. Measured and transparent – building data systems that customers and regulators can trust.

Whether an operator is a cross-border giant or a national operator, the task is to adapt these principles to existing constraints and opportunities – not to copy someone else’s checklist.

For a deeper look at how Geopost and Pos Malaysia are finding their own routes to net-zero, download our Courier, Express and Parcel Outlook 2026.