More than 80 Agility employees around the world participated in Earth Day activities in 2021 with 11 recipes shared, and more than 280 trees, flowers and herbs planted.

Each year on April 22, Agility employees participate in Earth Day activities, but due to the pandemic we asked our colleagues to participate virtually. We received photos from more than 80 employees in Abu Dhabi, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mozambique, Pakistan, Poland, Spain, and USA, who shared 11 of their favorite vegetarian recipes, planted more than 280 flowers, trees and herbs, joined two clean-up activities in their communities, and participated in Earth Hour.

Our colleagues in Surbaya, Indonesia showed us the fruits of their labor from their tree planting project in 2017. The video they shared shows pictures from a tree planting project the team did in 2017, and then showcases how those same 1,000 mangrove trees have grown just four years later.

It’s a good reminder that the seeds we plant can grow into beautiful gardens. When it comes to sustainability, we can each take steps today that make a difference in the long-term.

Follow @Agility on Instagram and find more photos and highlights on our page.

When COVID-19 brought the world to a halt, Agility donated services to keep essential cargo moving.

Insights from Frank Clary, VP for Sustainability at Agility

In only a few months, the COVID-19 virus has been responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, with cases in 180 countries. The global pandemic has overwhelmed health systems in highly-developed markets, including Italy and Spain. Informed by the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on more developed countries with strong health systems, the humanitarian community is coming to terms with what could happen in vulnerable countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, already challenged with weaker institutions and networks.

Cascading, systemic risk in vulnerable countries

The combined weakness of core systems – health, telecom, education, food, transport, and others – means vulnerable countries face what are called cascading risks. Upon actualization of one risk, in this case, a health system overwhelmed by a global pandemic, more systemic risks are actualized, leading to the combined collapse of core systems, and potentially complete societal collapse.

In a country with many poor and vulnerable citizens, governments have limited levers that they can pull to help prevent or slow community spread. Many people live day-to-day and risk loss of livelihood if they self-isolate. Many live in precarious, crowded situations where self-isolation is not possible. It will not be possible to control community spread of the virus in communities where individuals must work every day to survive.

A shortage of personal protection equipment (PPE), already an issue in many countries in Europe and North America, precipitously increases the infection rate of first responders. Once infected, first responders cannot conduct tests, contact tracing, or treat patients. With first responders incapacitated, the public health system is considerably weakened, which could increase infection rates and contribute to significant death toll.

Humanitarian supply chains  

In a humanitarian emergency, logistics is critically important for saving lives, and typically accounts for 75-80 percent of total spend. This crisis will be no different. The logistics challenge is particularly acute due to the global nature of this crisis, now that more than 50 countries currently restrict the export of medical supplies, including India, where a large proportion of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) used in medicines originate.

Agility is working together with other logistics companies that make up part of the Logistics Emergency Team which supports the Logistics Cluster, led by the United Nations World Food Programme. The companies are creating a dynamic database of information that will be essential to ensure that the 40+ essential items on the WHO’s COVID-19 Disease Commodity Package get to vulnerable countries. The exercise includes data collection and analysis of 4 key factors critical for fast humanitarian response.

• Geographies of risk: which populations are most at risk of systemic failures?
• Export restrictions for countries that are producing essential items
• Import restrictions in vulnerable countries that apply to these essential items
• Capacity constraints for air, ocean and road freight from production countries to vulnerable countries

The sooner test kits, PPE and other essential goods can get to people who need them, the more likely these countries can manage the crisis before it gets out of hand. Agility is also donating warehouse space for storage of humanitarian supplies in Ghana, Malaysia and Dubai.

At the same time, Agility is leveraging its global network, and particularly relationships with suppliers and local governments in emerging markets to get up-to-date information on how the situation is changing. Agility’s COVID-19 Global Shipping Updates are maintained by a network of logistics service providers all over the world, offering information in real time from their countries, as the situation evolves.

A Call to Action: we all can help vulnerable countries respond to COVID-19

For this global crisis, what you do to build resilience in your community, your company, or your supply chain affects the quantity and availability of life-saving products for vulnerable countries. We must keep life-saving cargo moving.

For logistics companies: share information that we can share with humanitarian organizations, particularly in terms of fast-changing export and import restrictions and available capacity

For shippers: collaborate closely with your freight forwarders, carriers, and others – especially for pharmaceutical industry. Sky-high air freight rates and capacity shortages are prompting players to go it alone, just when we need to work together to bring costs down and free up capacity. Collaboration between stakeholders can improve asset utilization, which could help bring costs down and overcome capacity constraints on some critical trade lanes.

For governments: governments need to ensure that exports of humanitarian supplies to vulnerable countries continue, especially to countries unable to limit community spread and to locations where cascading system breakdowns could lead to heavy loss of life and societal collapse. Catastrophe in vulnerable countries will prolong the global crisis for everyone. Particularly for those countries that are ramping up production of PPE and life-saving equipment, it is important to work with humanitarian organizations to consider how to ensure that humanitarian cargo is able to flow freely to vulnerable populations.

For individuals: self-isolate, and reserve PPE and medicines for first-responders who really need them to do things such as contact tracing, testing and treating patients. The faster communities recover, the more expertise, PPE and other life-saving commodities will be available in the global supply chain to reach more vulnerable populations.

The global trade system has a responsibility now to keep cargo moving in order to protect vulnerable populations. #keepcargomoving

Agility, a leading global logistics provider, announced that it has invested $35 million in Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital, a blank-check company that will target businesses offering sustainable solutions in clean energy, healthcare, financial technology, industrials, mobility and emerging technology.

Queen’s Gambit’s all-female management team is led by CEO Victoria Grace, a New York-based venture capitalist and Founding Partner of Colle Capital. The special purpose acquisition company is supported by an all-female Board with diverse industry experience.

Queen’s Gambit’s female-led management team “has the potential to tap into a differentiated network,” Tarek Sultan, Vice-Chairman of Agility said. “This is a chance to take a more inclusive view of opportunities in the market, and drive value in the process.”

Agility has a long-standing partnership with Colle Capital, having invested in multiple companies together. “Agility brings unique capabilities to the table, including our emerging market leadership, roster of 60,000 business customers, strategic partnerships, and experience of our Ventures team,” Sultan said.

Agility’s investment in Queen’s Gambit reflects the company’s commitment to sustainability and belief that innovative technology can yield both social and economic returns. “This is not a new position for us. We’ve been practicing stakeholder capitalism for more than a decade,” Sultan said. “Sustainable technology is one of our core investment pillars.”

Agility has been intensifying its long-standing commitment to the environment, sustainability and improved governance. It was recently added to the FTSE4Good Index Series, a resource used by investors to identify companies around the world with strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices.

Hyliion Inc., a leader in electrified powertrain solutions for Class 8 commercial vehicles, announced today the launch of its Hypertruck Electric Range Extender (ERX), a long-haul, fully electric powertrain delivering superior performance, emissions reductions and cost-savings to the global trucking industry.

Hypertruck ERX

The launch of the Hypertruck ERX is anchored by Agility, one of the world’s leading logistics companies with $5.2 billion in revenue and offices in 100 countries. Agility has confirmed a pre-order of up to 1,000 trucks and has agreed to invest in a private offering of securities to be issued by Tortoise Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: SHLL) in connection with Hyliion’s recently announced business combination.

“Hyliion is leading the way in electrified trucking. Our practical solution addresses the most important needs of today’s fleets: cost savings, lower emissions and a fueling infrastructure that can support long-haul transportation,” said Hyliion’s CEO and founder, Thomas Healy. “We’re already seeing robust interest in the Hypertruck ERX from fleets like Agility who are looking for electric solutions that can be seamlessly integrated.”

Combined with a fully electric drivetrain and a natural gas-powered onboard generator to recharge the battery, the Hypertruck ERX will provide more than 1,000 miles of range. The powertrain also produces electricity locally at roughly 30 percent less than the average grid cost, which yields a seven-year cost-of-ownership unmatched by any diesel, battery-electric (BEV) or hydrogen fuel-cell (FCEV) Class 8 truck under development.

“The Hyliion technology is so game-changing that all companies, especially those with consumer-facing brands, will be forced to adapt,” said Tarek Sultan, vice chairman and CEO of Agility. “It’s a triple win: Protect the environment, keep customers happy and benefit shareholders by improving the bottom line. We look forward to bringing significant cost savings and greater efficiency to our customers.”

Read more about how Agility works to green its operations

With more than 700 public stations across the U.S., the Hypertruck ERX leverages a robust natural gas refuelling infrastructure. The truck is the only electric Class 8 vehicle that can achieve a net-negative greenhouse gas emissions footprint using renewable natural gas (RNG). It will achieve 25 miles of pure electric vehicle range in compliance with cities adopting “Zero Emission Zones.” The vehicle’s low carbon footprint is further enhanced by the system’s machine learning algorithm, which optimizes energy efficiency, emissions, performance and predictive maintenance schedules.

Continuing Hyliion’s long-standing partner relationship with Dana Incorporated (NYSE: DAN), the Hypertruck ERX will feature Dana’s electric motor, inverter and axle technologies, and Dana plans to provide its state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities to support Hyliion in achieving full volume production of its powertrain systems. Initial Hypertruck ERX fleet demonstration vehicles have already been allocated to customers for delivery in 2021, with volume shipments scheduled in 2022. For more information on the Hypertruck ERX, click here.