Roadblocks Hindering a Fossil-Free Stockholm : Research of the Impact of Food Delivery Technology

Sammanfattning: Online food delivery (OFD) services have become increasingly popular and accessible, allowing customers to choose between a wide range of restaurants conveniently, compare meals and prices effectively, and arrange the delivery of the meal immediately. Thus, the number of last-mile online food deliveries has increased, creating challenges for urban cities. Based on the goal that the City Council of Stockholm has set up regarding becoming fossil-free by 2040, this report examines the effects of the last-mile deliveries in the food delivery sector, particularly how the food is delivered to consumers today, and what challenges the OFD companies are facing in relation to lowering emissions from last-mile deliveries in the urban area. The study consists of empirical data collected from a quantitative survey answered by food delivery consumers in Stockholm, a qualitative interview with Sofia Leffler Moberg, Head of Sustainable Transformation at PostNord, and secondary data published online. The results show that there is a discrepancy between how the food was delivered to the customer and what the respective OFD platform recounted in their application to be the delivery method. The in-app visualization shows that the predominant vehicle used for delivery was bicycle, however, the answers from the participants in the investigation indicate that fossil-driven vehicles such as cars and mopeds are used for delivering. The findings also indicate that there is, to a certain extent, an awareness and a presence of sustainability work in relation to carbon dioxide emissions, however, the work is argued to be limited in relation to what is actually needed in order to contribute to becoming a fossil-free city. Therefore, a large commitment by both the OFD companies and the City Council of Stockholm is needed to accelerate the transition from fossil-driven to fossil-free delivery fleets in order to reduce the GHG emissions from the last-mile deliveries within the sector.