The freight transport required to send our goods all over the world accounts for about 7 percent of global carbon emissions, making it a significant contributor to climate change and an important potential climate leadership opportunity. Levers of change exist however, to improve performance, including greater route and vehicle efficiency, modal shifts (using different transport modes over a single route) and the scaling of low-carbon fuels.
Big data also enables the development of true "demand-responsive" shared transport, according to ITF (PDF), helping the commercial freight industry optimize the use of space and assets — in the same way that companies such as Uber and Lyft are changing individual mobility. This will contribute to reduced emissions and congestion, as well as better use of urban space.