Early Bird’s 2024 Sustainability Report: SBTi target validation and growth in emission-free last-mile deliveries

In 2024, Early Bird took major steps towards its goal of becoming Sweden’s most sustainable provider of e-commerce deliveries, with a net-zero target for 2030. Among other developments, Linköping was added to the areas where Early Bird provides emission-free last-mile deliveries.

2024 was marked by strong operational growth, climate action and significant progress towards Early Bird’s social and environmental goals. The company’s SBTi target—to achieve completely emission-free deliveries and net-zero emissions by 2030—was validated and approved by the Science Based Targets initiative.

A total of 18.5 million parcels were delivered in 2024, more than five times the volume delivered in 2019, when operations began.

– In 2024, we once again showed that it is possible to grow rapidly while reducing emissions. Thanks to strong collaboration throughout our value chain, we have reduced emissions per tonne of parcels by 57 percent since we started in 2019—even though we delivered more than five times as many parcels. Decoupling emissions from growth is one of our greatest achievements to date, says Stefan von Stein, CEO of Early Bird.

By the end of 2024, 48 percent of the total distance travelled was fossil-free, and 51 percent of vehicles were fully emission-free. During the year, Linköping joined the cities to have achieved 100 percent emission-free transport. Early Bird now reaches 58 percent of Swedish households with emission-free last-mile delivery and 43 percent of the country’s postal codes with fully fossil-free delivery from warehouse to door.

During 2024, considerable work went into preparing several Early Bird services—Mailbox Delivery, Evening Home Delivery and Home-to-Home—for certification under the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, a process completed when the services were certified in March 2025.

– Behind every emissions reduction—and every milestone, such as the validation of our climate targets by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) or achieving the Nordic Swan Ecolabel—lies a chain of operational decisions and the employees who made them possible. In 2024, together with our distribution partners and teams across the country, we changed the way we work and were able to achieve these goals together, says Sofi Klavacs Karlsson, COO of Early Bird.

All Early Bird employees and distribution partners are covered by collective agreements. Women account for 50 percent of leadership positions and 45 percent of the total workforce. Employee satisfaction is 3.9 out of 5.

– Although we have not yet reached our internal target of 4.0, the trend indicates that our continued investment in fair working conditions, inclusion and open communication is having a positive impact, says Stefan von Stein.

Read more in Early Bird’s 2024 Sustainability Report here.

For further information, please contact:

Sofi Klavacs Karlsson, COO, Early Bird
sofi.klavacs-karlsson@earlybird.se