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The Role of CO2 Emission Reporting Requirements for Last-Mile Decisions

Guy H. Gessner

The BRC Academy Journal of Business

Volume 14

Number 1

Print ISSN: 2152-8721 Online ISSN: 2152-8721

Date: April 15, 2025

First Page 59

Last Page 88

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15239/j.brcacadjb.2025.14.01.ja03

Abstract

Many large retailers and dealers have an obligation to report CO2 emissions to regulatory bodies. Often these reports need to include emissions generated by the transportation equipment used for transporting merchandise along the last mile connecting customers with their orders. Last-mile CO2 emission management and reporting regulation compliance are business costs and obligations for sellers but for each transaction customers determine the decision maker ultimately responsible for last-mile transportation. Customers can decide to travel to a store to shop or to pick up an online order, or they may decide they want an order delivered. Customer decisions can also change with each different transaction even if it is for the same product or from the same seller. Through their last-mile decisions customers help to determine the quantity of reportable emissions for sellers. To minimize reportable emissions a company may want to offer different last mile options and incentives to customers in different regulatory jurisdictions. This paper discusses how different CO2 emission reporting environments provide incentives for sellers to provide different communications and transaction options to their prospective customers to minimize their reportable CO2 emissions.

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