Local governments generally pay much less attention to freight transport than to passenger transport. This situation must change, because freight transport is also serious source of air pollution. In many cities throughout the world it is the main emitter (as far as transport is concerned) of soot (black carbon, BC). Soot emitted by diesel engines is highly detrimental for human health and it is also one of the main drivers of global warming. Namely, BC absorbs radiating heat from the sun and warms its direct environment. BC is carried by wind from the industrialised countries of the Northern hemisphere to the Arctic region, where it settles on ice and snow and changes the overall reflectivity of those surfaces (albedo effect), accelerating the melting.

An important tool to reduce emissions from urban freight transport is the proper application of city logistics. For example, by applying up-to-date logistics in London, the CO2 emission caused by transport of construction materials was reduced by 75 %!

ITDP has been working together with the Clean Air Action Group (CAAG), a national federation of Hungarian environmental NGOs, already for almost two decades to reduce the harmful environmental impact of transport. Last year CAAG and ITDP announced a prize named after the outstanding Hungarian environmentalist, Dr. Dezső Radó, to be given to a person in Hungary for outstanding achievement in the field of logistics serving the environment. The Logistic Section of the Hungarian Economic Association (a very prestigeous body in Hungary), the Hungarian Association of Logistics, Purchasing and Inventory Management (the leading body in Hungary representing the professionals involved in logistics, purchasing and supply chain management), the Club of Logistics Directors of Big Companies in Hungary and the University of Pannonia joined the initiative.

The Prize Dezső Radó was handed over to Dr. Krisztián Bóna in May 2013 at the 7th National and 2nd International Conference of Logistics Directors in the Hungarian city Sárvár. Dr. Bóna is deputy head of the Department of Material Handling and Logistics Systems at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. He is known for his outstanding scientific and educational work in the field of both business logistics and city logistics. Together with his students he worked out a number of well-founded proposals to reduce environmental pollution by freight transport in Budapest.

On the photo (from left to right): Zoltán Szabó, President of the Club of Logistics Directors of Big Companies in Hungary, Dr. Krisztián Bóna, and András Lukács, President of CAAG

Photo by Bálint Nagy