CO2 emissions and logistics performance: a composite index proposal

The importance of good logistics performance for low/no fossil-carbon economies is widely recognized, especially because the transport sector is responsible for a substantial portion of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. This research evaluates efficiency in the relationship between transport logistics performance, as measured by the Logistics Performance Index (LPI), and CO2 emissions from the transport sector. The slacks-based measure (SBM) of the data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to construct a low carbon logistics performance index (LCLPI) ranking a group of 104 countries that were selected using the available data. The empirical model adopted one input (CO2 emissions for the transport sector) and seven outputs (gross domestic product [GDP] and the six components of the LPI). GDP has been included as a non-discretionary output because CO2 emissions are directly dependent on a country's economic production, while the LPI is a qualifier. To evaluate how the composite index evolved over time, we used an approach that combines the techniques of window analysis and the Malmquist index. Considering the DEA results, the countries that performed best in terms of the LCLPI were Japan, Germany, Togo, Benin, and the United States and the more evolved countries were Luxemburg, Ireland, Lebanon, and Honduras. For the purposes of LCLPI validation and analysis, the performances of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries were analyzed, especially China, which is the world's second largest CO2 emitter. The proposed composite index and the ranking of countries in terms of logistics performance and CO2 emissions can help identify the best performing countries in low carbon logistics.