Mumbai: Zomato on Tuesday said it has joined a coalition of major food and grocery delivery platforms aimed at advancing the adoption of zero-emission two- and three-wheeler vehicles globally.The formation of the industry-led alliance, Deliver-E Coalition, which has the backing of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) earlier in the day was announced in Dubai with Delivery Hero, DoorDash, iFood, Mr D, Swiggy, Uber, Wolt as its founding members besides Zomato.
The coalition's founding charter unites members to dramatically speed up the implementation of zero-emission deliveries by shifting to electric vehicles, bicycles and other two- and three-wheeler options, Zomato said in a statement.Members will share best practices, track the progress of electrification, and develop solutions to common challenges, it said.
"Our goal in joining the Deliver-E Coalition is to leverage the power of knowledge-sharing and collective action to accelerate this transition," said Anjalli Ravi Kumar, Chief Sustainability Officer, Eternal Limited.Consumers are increasingly ordering online with global e-commerce sales generating USD 25 trillion across 43 developed and developing economies in 2021, a 15 per cent increase over pre-pandemic levels, according to the UNEP.
Rising doorstep deliveries are creating fresh operational pressures for both cities and businesses, it said, and added that a United Nations assessment indicates that without changes to how cities and companies manage last-mile logistics, urban delivery emissions are on track to increase by over 30 per cent in the top 100 cities globally.Noting that the resulting pressure would raise traffic congestion by around 14 per cent, increase healthcare costs by approximately 12 per cent, and add about five minutes to daily commutes, the UNEP said.
Additionally, research shows that deliveries could account for as much as half of the transport sector's emissions in cities by 2030, it added.Kumar said that Zomato was among the first delivery brands in India to make a commitment to actively facilitate the use of EVs for food delivery in 2021 to lower emissions and fight air pollution.
"We've invested in generating awareness among delivery partners on the benefits of using EVs for delivery, enabled partners to seamlessly access EVs on rent from over 40+ OEM and fleet partners and have advocated for policies to enable partners to use EVs for deliveries," she said.
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