France proposes banning free delivery of online shopping due to environmental impact
A parliamentary report denouncing the environmental impact of online shopping has outlined a series of new measures to regulate deliveries.
The report published on Thursday, written by two senators from the Parti Socialiste and Les Républicains parties and seen by Le Figaro newspaper, aims to reduce the environmental impact caused by the transport of goods.
The measures suggested include banning free deliveries and requiring companies selling their products online to disclose the carbon footprint of the delivery options on offer.
"In France, nearly 90 percent of the internal transport of goods is carried out by road (...), to the detriment of rail and river freight.
"Twenty-three percent of transport-related greenhouse gas emissions result from heavy goods vehicles and 19 percent from light commercial vehicles," the report said.
In 2014 a law aimed at supporting small bookstores restricted free deliveries in the online sale of books. Amazon hit back by charging customers just one centime for books dispatched to their homes.
READ ALSO: The French town where local businesses are creating an alternative to Amazon
Accelerated by the pandemic, e-commerce has exploded last year – it represented €112 billion in turnover in France in 2020, according to Le Monde, and 92 percent of French people now shop online. One billion parcels were delivered in 2020, compared to 800 million in 2019.
According to the Agency for ecological transition (Ademe), every online purchase is the equivalent of 12 grams of CO2, the equivalent of driving a car for about 1km.
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The report published on Thursday, written by two senators from the Parti Socialiste and Les Républicains parties and seen by Le Figaro newspaper, aims to reduce the environmental impact caused by the transport of goods.
The measures suggested include banning free deliveries and requiring companies selling their products online to disclose the carbon footprint of the delivery options on offer.
"In France, nearly 90 percent of the internal transport of goods is carried out by road (...), to the detriment of rail and river freight.
"Twenty-three percent of transport-related greenhouse gas emissions result from heavy goods vehicles and 19 percent from light commercial vehicles," the report said.
In 2014 a law aimed at supporting small bookstores restricted free deliveries in the online sale of books. Amazon hit back by charging customers just one centime for books dispatched to their homes.
READ ALSO: The French town where local businesses are creating an alternative to Amazon
Accelerated by the pandemic, e-commerce has exploded last year – it represented €112 billion in turnover in France in 2020, according to Le Monde, and 92 percent of French people now shop online. One billion parcels were delivered in 2020, compared to 800 million in 2019.
According to the Agency for ecological transition (Ademe), every online purchase is the equivalent of 12 grams of CO2, the equivalent of driving a car for about 1km.
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