Evaluating a company's impact (the case of FedEx)

This week’s read time: 3 minutes

You are reading Green Digest Impact, a bi-weekly newsletter that provides in-depth analyses of companies’ environmental and social impact.

OUR APPROACH

Central to our narrative is the principle of double-materiality, which recognizes that a company's impact is twofold: it affects both the environment and society at large, and in turn, these external factors influence the company's financial and operational performance.

While traditional ESG assessments focus on the latter, we aim to examine companies' direct impacts on these factors. In pursuit of this, we introduce a unique scoring system that quantifies a company's impact.

The insights and analyses presented in Green Digest Impact are brought to you by a partnership between Green Digest and Impaakt, a Swiss-based impact data provider. Contact Impaakt here to explore how they can assist you.

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THIS WEEK’S COMPANY

FedEx

This week, we dive deep into FedEx’s environmental and social impact.

FedEx is a global leader in express shipping, logistics, and e-commerce services. Operating in over 220 countries and territories, FedEx provides overnight delivery, freight services, supply chain solutions, and business logistics through its well-integrated network of air and ground transportation.

Some interesting facts:

• FedEx was founded in 1971 by Fred Smith, who outlined the concept in a college paper that his professor reportedly dismissed as unrealistic.

• FedEx has experienced remarkable growth, with daily deliveries increasing from 186 on its first day of operation to approximately 16 million today—a factor of over 85,000.

COMPANY’S IMPACT

FedEx’s overall impact score

FedEx has a general impact score of +0.62 (on a scale from -5 to +5). Its impact is spread across 9 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 9 topics, split between positive and negative analyses.

In the socio-economic sphere,

FedEx operates a vast global network, moving over 16 million shipments daily via nearly 700 aircraft and over 200,000 motorized vehicles. Annually, FedEx transports approximately 20.5 billion tonne-km of freight, connecting markets that generate over 99% of the world's GDP, thus playing a significant role in facilitating global trade and commerce. The company's global network spans over 64,000 drop-off locations, including 17,000 Walgreens, Dollar General, and Albertsons stores. Employing over 500,000 employees, FedEx also contributes to economic and social stability.

On the negative side, the company has faced violations totaling around $14 million since 2020 for various offenses, including environmental and workplace safety violations, employment discrimination, wage and hour violations, and unfair shipping practices.

Environmentally,

FedEx has an annual carbon footprint of around 21 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, comparable to the annual electricity usage of over 4.5 million homes. Additionally, the company's operations emit around 96,000 tonnes of air pollutants, contributing to deteriorated air quality. In terms of waste generation, FedEx generates roughly 520,000 tonnes annually, with 99% being non-hazardous. Although the company recycles 67% of its waste, it still disposes of around 173,000 tonnes. Moreover, FedEx utilizes approximately 93,000 tonnes of packaging materials every year, with only 37% of this material consisting of recycled content. However, through measures such as aircraft fleet modernization and fuel efficiency improvements, FedEx claims it has successfully avoided around 3 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent emissions.

_{*The impact score is current as of March 2025 and may be subject to changes as it is continuously updated.
**You can find details about the scoring methodology here and the information sources here.}

ESG VS IMPACT SCORE

What is FedEx’s ESG rating?

For comparison, FedEx has an A rating in MSCI's ESG evaluation.

However, ESG Ratings from MSCI ESG Research are designed to measure a company’s resilience to financially material ESG risks and they provide a window into one facet of risk to financial performance. They measure how effectively companies manage ESG risks, not their impact on these factors.

SCORES BY SDG

FedEx’s impact scores by SDG

Positively (and by weight), the company scores the highest in Partnership for the Goals SDG (+2.93), followed by Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (+3.27) and Decent Work and Economic Growth (+2.27).

Negatively, the company scores the worst in Responsible Consumption and Production SDG (-2.35), followed by Climate Action (-3.52) and Good Health and Well-being (-3.17).

*the analysis takes into account the weight of the SDGs

CONCLUSION

Materiality Map & Final Words

So, FedEx’s key social and environmental impact lies in …

its extensive global presence as a leading logistics and transportation company, providing a broad portfolio of global transportation, e-commerce, and business services. With a vast network of operations handling over 16 million shipments daily, and transporting freight over approximately 20.5 billion tonne-kilometers annually, FedEx plays a vital role in facilitating global trade and commerce, while also supporting economic and social stability by employing around 500,000 employees.

However, the company’s contributions are accompanied by significant environmental impacts, including a substantial carbon footprint of around 21 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, air pollutant emissions, and extensive waste generation.

FedEx’s overall impact score of +0.62 reflects its strong contributions to economic growth and global trade, balanced against challenges in environmental sustainability.

If you’d like to delve deeper into FedEx’s impact, you can explore it here.

If you'd like to learn more about the scoring methodology, you can do so here.

Do you have a specific company you'd like us to cover? Send your suggestions to [email protected]

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