24 July 2008: PostEurop, a
Restricted Union representing 48 European public postal operators, has agreed
to form a joint technical committee with the Universal Postal Union’s (UPU)
Sustainable Development Project Group, which will establish measures to reduce the
sector’s carbon dioxide emissions.

The agreement comes under
the framework of the partnership agreement for a more environmentally friendly
postal sector concluded between the UN Environment Programme and the UPU in May
2008. Under the agreement, PostEurop’s Environment Working Group will share the results of its greenhouse gas reduction
programme, which aims for a 10% reduction by 2012. Both
organizations expressed the hope that the agreement would lead to an effective carbon management policy for the whole postal
sector. [Universal
Postal Union press release]