A new report has set out an ambitious roadmap to make deliveries and freight journeys more sustainable and efficient as it warns that the delivery boom will become unmanageable under current measures.

The report by think tank Centre for London warns of the environmental impact of existing delivery methods and calls on businesses, national and local government to “turn the tide on an unsustainable system”

Published to coincide with COP26, the report by think tank Centre for London highlights the environmental impact of existing delivery methods.

Most goods and services are moved by diesel and petrol vans – these contribute up to a quarter of London’s carbon emissions and PM2.5 emissions from transport.

And unlike the new car market, van registrations have largely continued to grow, fuelled by the deliveries boom during the pandemic.

While the recent extension to the Ultra Low Emission Zone will help cut emissions, many diesel and petrol vans are already compliant with the scheme standards so don’t have to pay the fine, the authors warn.

Although the report says consumers must change their behaviour, it also calls on businesses, national and local government to “turn the tide on an unsustainable system” and reduce the number of polluting van and lorry journeys at all stages of the delivery process.

The proposals include introducing 10,000 pick-up points and lockers for parcel deliveries – which would put 90%of Londoners within 250 metres of a universal parcel pick-up/drop-off point by 2025.

Switching to a pick-up process would not only allow companies to deliver large numbers of parcels at once to fewer locations –  reducing air pollution and congestion – but it would also ensure a more successful first-time delivery rate and cut the van traffic from redeliveries.

If progress on setting up universal pick-up points is too slow, the report also recommends that the Mayor of London is given new powers to incentivise Londoners to use pick-up/drop-off locations. This could include an online sales tax for at-home deliveries.

And the report calls on the Mayor to introduce a pay-per-mile road user charging scheme that could give priority to delivery and servicing vehicles; a timely call after MPs were told by the BVRLA last month that the Government must start planning for a national road pricing scheme now to ensure a smooth transition and avoid a £40bn tax black hole in the switch to EVs.

Alongside the shift to electric vehicles, forecasts suggest that at least 4,000 rapid charging points will be needed in London by 2025, an 800% increase from the 500 in the city at the end of 2020. The report argues that national government should fund the installation of charging facilities at commercial properties such as consolidation centres.

And it says the Government should also invest in reactivating London’s piers, wharves and rail-road interchanges so that the river and railways are a viable alternative to van and lorry journeys on London’s roads.

Nicolas Bosetti, head of data and insight, at Centre for London, said: “Many delivery companies already have plans to make their journeys more sustainable, but we need to encourage them to deliver to and from fewer places and support more of them to switch to cleaner vehicles. This means creating space for pick-up points, consolidation centres and electric vehicle charging points.

“They won’t be able to do this alone. The Mayor of London and London’s boroughs need to take action to make freight journeys as green and clean as possible, alongside serious investment from the Government too.”

To access the Centre for London report, click here.