The adoption of industrial logistics decarbonization practices: Evidence from Austria

Abstract

Considering the increasing awareness of customers, shareholders, and employees for climate change, European firms face a changing institutional environment and increased pressures to decarbonize their operations. Although this is already common practice in many areas, the emissions of in- and outbound logistics are still not shrinking. To develop effective novel measures, researchers and practitioners need a clear picture of the state-of-the-art. Currently, a scattered landscape of studies researching the utilization of green logistics practices in Europe exists. By surveying Austrian practitioners, we contribute to this landscape and enhance knowledge on the utilization of green measures, experts’ perceptions of them, and discriminating factors for their implementation. Results indicate that the writing is on the wall for emission reductions in the near future due to several aspects. We elaborate on these, provide benchmarking possibilities for Austrian practitioners and indicate which managerial factors to concentrate on when aiming at decarbonizing logistics. For researchers, the presentation of the state-of-the-art and its discussion highlights future research directions and questions, among them the question of why the perceived potentials of measures differ from scientifically validated potentials and how to align this knowledge gap.