Application of Low-Carbon Measures in Logistics Service Providers in Vietnam: A Comparative Study between Domestic and Foreign-Invested Companies

Abstract

The logistics industry has been as a significant contributor to carbon emissions. Within Vietnam’s logistics sector, there is a notable contrast in terms of the quantity of foreign and Vietnamese companies and their respective market shares. This article used a structured survey and descriptive analysis to investigate the low-carbon-emission measures employed by domestic and foreign-invested logistics service providers (LSPs), comparing the results of these two groups, and in-depth interviews were applied for further discussion. The relevant literature was reviewed and expert insights were used to develop a comprehensive questionnaire, resulting in 166 completed responses, of which 159 were suitable for data analysis. The findings reveal variations in the degree to which low-carbon practices are adopted by foreign and domestic firms. In addition to changes in transport modes and the use of energy-saving lighting, the adoption levels of other low-carbon practices show that foreign LSPs exhibit higher engagement compared to their domestic counterparts. This can be attributed to their extensive global operations, greater access to capital resources, and a greater awareness of the importance of green initiatives in developed countries. In conclusion, this study conducts a comparative analysis between foreign-invested and domestic firms, which has not been previously investigated.

1. Introduction

The environment is becoming a growing concern all over the world. According to the Climate Change Knowledge Portal, Vietnam is among the world’s most susceptible nations to the impacts of climate change. Climate change and other environmental issues could pose many challenges to the economy and hinder it from growing sustainably. Fully acknowledging these challenges, Vietnamese authorities have implemented numerous policies and programmes to address these issues, with the central goal of developing a more sustainable and environmentally friendly growth model. In particular, at COP26 in Glasgow on 31 October–13 November 2021, the Vietnam Prime Minister, on behalf of the whole nation, committed to apply stronger measures to lower greenhouse gas emissions, with the targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 9 percent with domestic resources and by 27 percent with international support by 2030. The National Committee on Climate Change was established and is chaired by the Prime Minister, with key ministers playing vital roles. These policies aim to prepare Vietnam more effectively for the future impacts of climate change. Their focus includes reducing the use of fossil fuels in various sectors, investing in climate-resilient infrastructure, and providing stronger incentives for businesses to pursue green growth.

Carbon emissions are one of the largest contributors to environmental issues in general and climate change in particular. According to the Global Change Data Lab, Vietnam’s carbon emission in 2021 was 3.3 tons per capita, which was relatively large. To achieve sustainable development, Vietnam should investigate this issue and devise appropriate solutions to reduce carbon emissions. Among many sectors of the economy, logistics and the supply chain are rapidly growing. Vietnam’s LPI reached 3.3 in 2023, ranking 43 of 160 countries that participated in the World Bank. The logistics sector creates a large amount of carbon emissions and should therefore be a focus when devising solutions for carbon emission reduction. Furthermore, in a previous study, Cheng et al. highlighted that logistics service providers bear a significant responsibility for carbon emissions within the logistics industry [1].

Recognising the importance of studying further the carbon emission reduction practices of logistics providers, this article looks at the current practices of Vietnamese logistics service providers to reflect their situations and to some extent assess the effectiveness of their applications. In detail, the following research questions have been formulated:

RQ1. What are the low-carbon-emission measures applied by Vietnamese LSPs? To what extent are they applying those measures?

RQ2. What are the low-carbon-emission measures applied by foreign-invested LSPs in Vietnam? To what extent are they applying those measures?

RQ3. How do the measured applications of Vietnam and foreign-invested LSPs differ from each other?

In this paper, the term “logistics service providers” encompasses freight transportation, warehousing, distribution centres, forwarding, stations, and other related services. Additionally, in line with conventional terminology, “carbon emissions” refers to emissions of all greenhouse gases (not limited to carbon dioxide), with their volume measured in tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂e).

2. Context and Literature Review

2.1. Context of Low-Carbon Emissions in Vietnam and over the World

Climate change and environmental degradation are considered the major challenges for the development and existence of humanity in the 21st century. According to the assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the main cause of global climate change is excessive greenhouse gas emissions from human socioeconomic development activities. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) accounts for 79.4% of total greenhouse gas emissions; the remaining 20.6% consists of other gases such as methane CH₄ (11.5%), nitrous oxide N₂O (6.2%), hydrofluorocarbon HFCs (2.8%), and different sulphur compounds [2]. To address greenhouse gas emissions and limit the increase in the average temperature of the Earth, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was signed by 154 nations and one regional economic integration organisation at the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development at Rio de Janeiro in 1992, with the goal of stabilising greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate [3]. Since then, reducing greenhouse gas emissions has always been the main topic of negotiations at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP).

Along with the development of the economy, Vietnam is becoming a significant greenhouse gas emission centre. Although Vietnam’s absolute emissions are still small compared to those of developed countries, this volume is growing rapidly, and even too fast for the size of the economy. Vietnam is the 13th largest carbon-emitting economy in the world, measured by emissions per GDP, and ranks 4th among low-middle income countries in East Asia. Annual CO₂ emissions of Vietnam from 2010 to 2021 are demonstrated in Figure 1 below.

As one of the countries most affected by climate change, and realising the importance of reducing carbon emissions, Vietnam always shows responsibility and proactively implements international commitments. Many policies, solutions, research, and practical actions to respond to climate change have been synchronously developed and implemented. Vietnam has supported the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and actively participated in legal agreements related to climate change mitigation; specifically, Vietnam signed the 1992 Climate Convention, ratified in 1994; signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1998 and ratified it in 2002; established a National Steering Committee for the Implementation of the Climate Convention and the Kyoto Protocol; submitted the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) in 2015; and signed and approved the 2016 Paris Agreement. Following the approval of the Paris Agreement, Vietnam’s INDC has become a required contribution and is responsible for implementation.

On 28 October 2016, the prime minister issued the plan to implement the Paris Agreement with 68 important tasks assigned to ministries, branches, localities, and businesses to be implemented by 2030. Vietnam will meet its net-zero carbon emission goal by 2050, according to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who also called for fairness and justice in climate change matters. Chinh reaffirmed that developed nations should share in the challenges facing Vietnam and offer support in the areas of human resources, national governance for sustainable development, and preferential green finance and technology. As part of its efforts to minimise greenhouse gas emissions, Vietnam also sought international assistance in the form of funding and technology transfer. It also committed to keep pursuing the Paris Agreement’s objectives. Vietnam pledged to COP26 to halt deforestation by 2030 and phase out coal-powered electricity generation by 2040. By 2030, other industrialised nations have promised to do the same. According to its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), Vietnam aims to cut its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 9% with local resources and by 27% with foreign assistance by 2030.

2.2. Literature Review of Low-Carbon Emissions in the Logistics Sector

Emission drivers [5,6,7,8], influencing policies [1,9,10,11,12,13], affecting factors [14,15,16,17], low-carbon-emission barriers [6,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26], simulating models [27,28], technological innovation promoting low-carbon emission [29], how low-carbon initiatives affect business performance [30,31], and low-carbon household emission [32,33] are some of the specific areas that have been studied so far. The majority of the present literature focuses on evaluating the relationships between various elements, such as policies and technologies, and the implementation of low-carbon-emission practices. Participants in the process of implementing these projects have only made a small number of comparisons.

Global supply chains, in particular, have benefited from the importance of logistics activities and services provided by professional logistics providers. In the current context where sustainable development has been increasingly emphasised, sustainable logistics management is critically in need. Consequently, green logistics activities have been adopted by different stakeholders in the supply chain. This study evaluates the adoption of a specific green logistics action, which is low-carbon emission by professional logistics service providers.

The green logistics application can be promoted through the advantage and compatibility of the practices, organisational assistance, human capability, customer requirements, regulations, and governmental factors, in the case of logistics providers in both China and Italy [6,20]. In addition, examining factors driving green practice applications, but more specifically in low-carbon emissions and from a wide scope of the entire supply chain, Jabbour et al. (2020) and Ibrahim, Putri, and Utama (2020) added other factors, such as green images of participants and profit [7,8]. As a component of green logistics and supply chain management, it can be inferred that low-carbon practices can be driven by competitor pressure, customer requirements, governmental policies, human competence, relative advantage, and related support.

Regarding low-carbon-emission initiatives, some studies on green initiatives have similarly been reviewed as references for low-carbon-emission measures. According to Lieb and Lieb (2010) in their study of sustainability in 3PL companies, there are four main groups of applied green initiatives, namely administrative, analytical, transportation-related, and a broadly defined “other” category [18].

Administrative activities include drafting a formal sustainability statement for a corporation, forming committees to manage company sustainability efforts, setting specific sustainability goals for various operating units, and launching pilot programmes to reduce emissions. The development of environmental KPIs that will be regularly monitored, benchmarking a company’s carbon footprint against other 3PLs, calculating the carbon impact of various network designs and transportation plans, and other analytical measures are examples of analytical measures. Alternative fuels, buying more fuel-efficient cars, lowering the number of miles driven by vehicles, encouraging internal initiatives to consolidate freight, moving freight to more fuel-efficient modes of transportation, and setting speed limits for company equipment are a few examples of transportation-related initiatives. In their analysis, activities such as reducing company printing, recycling packaging and office supplies, and installing solar panels in warehouses are categorised as other. In a different study by Perotti et al., green supply chain practices of 3PLs were divided into eight categories: green supply, distribution strategies and transportation execution, warehousing and green building, reverse logistics, customer cooperation, investment recovery, eco-design and packaging, and internal management [34]. Use of alternative fuels, environmentally friendly facility location, a routing system to reduce travel distances, an energy-efficient lighting system, energy-efficient material handling equipment, use of alternative energy sources, recycling or reusing of packaging, etc., are some specific initiatives related to low-carbon emission in these eight categories. The study of Evangelista is another noteworthy study. Evangelista included all of the environmental sustainability initiatives used by the case study organisations in his research, including everything from vehicle use, intramodality in transportation, and energy efficiency, to collaborative planning and environmental control [6]. A 3PL can be used to reduce carbon emissions in almost all of the aforementioned initiatives in one way or another. For the purposes of this work, we categorised the measurements related to carbon emissions into four groups, as shown in the accompanying table.

3. Methods

3.1. Research Design

This paper aims to study the application of low-carbon emissions in both Vietnamese logistics service providers and foreign-invested logistics service providers in Vietnam. To construct the framework of low-carbon-emission initiatives, the authors consulted the literature on this matter and then conducted some interviews with experts in the logistics service sectors.

According to the results of the literature review, the authors classified low-carbon practices to four categories (

Table 1. Green initiatives that have effects on carbon emission.

Categories	Initiative
Transportation	Use of alternative fuels Purchasing more fuel-efficient vehicles Reducing the operated vehicle mileage Promoting freight consolidation initiatives within the companies Limiting the speeds at which company equipment is operated Shifting freight to more fuel-efficient modes Using lower energy transport modes Changing vehicle specifications Reduce empty running Improving vehicle loading phase Greater use of intramodality
Packaging	Recycling office supplies and packaging materials Packaging recycling or reuse Reducing packaging
Warehouse	Install solar panels in warehouses Environmentally friendly facility location Energy-efficient material handling equipment Use of alternative energy sources
Information system	Investing in evaluation software Benchmarking a company’s carbon footprint against other 3PLs Developing environmental key performance indicators to be monitored on a regular basis Measuring the carbon impact of various network designs and transportation strategies Information on carbon footprint Setting lower GHG targets Transport planning

(Source: summarised by the authors of this paper).

). Then the framework was adjusted to be appropriate for Vietnamese logistics characteristics through discussion with several experts. The authors interviewed managers of popular logistics service providers (2PL and 3PL) during field trips and 2 conferences: one about the “Logistics service market” in Hanoi and one about “Incorporating to develop logistics service in Haiphong” in Haiphong City, both of which occurred in April 2021.

Based on the results of the interviews, a questionnaire was finalised. All variables are measured by a Likert scale with 5 levels (1 = no application, 2 = limited application, 3 = moderate application, 4 = usual application, 5 = very usual application). This questionnaire was distributed in bulk to enable data collection for quantitative calculation and findings. To reach the desired sample size, the authors conducted a survey with 279 2PL and 3PL service providers. According to VLA, there are more than 4000 LSPs in Vietnam, of which 95% are local companies, but are mainly small and very small enterprises with limited capital and human resources. The surveys were conducted directly at some logistics conferences and indirectly through Google Forms sent to the email of the companies.

After analysing the quantitative data, further in-depth interviews were conducted. Specifically, the authors interviewed managers from 9 companies having Vietnamese or foreign investors about their measures to reduce carbon emission in logistics activities and the effectiveness of these measures (Appendix A). The interviews mainly focused on the perspectives of managers regarding current practices and the alignment between the measures being implemented and the demands within Vietnam’s logistics service provider industry.

3.2. Data Sample

According to the Vietnam Logistics Report 2022, there are a total of 34,476 logistics service enterprises operating in Vietnamese. Utilising the convenience sampling method, the study sample consisted of members of the Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLA) and the Vietnam Association for Logistics Manpower Development (VALOMA). Of the 279 forms sent out, 166 forms were returned (which accounts for 59.5%, a high return rate with a questionnaire survey), in which 159 forms were valid (local companies account for 79.2% and foreign-invested companies account for 20.8%). The survey results were carefully and thoroughly summarised and analysed using SPSS 20.

Overall, the sample surveyed can be considered representative of the population and can be used for the purpose of this article. Characteristics of the sample are described in

Table 2. Characteristics of the sample.

Criteria		Local-Invested LSPs	Foreign-Invested LSPs
Main types of services	Road transportation	76.10%	72.30%
	Water transportation	54.70%	72.70%
Business period	Less than 15 years	71.40%	28.6%
	More than 15 years	63.60%	36.40%
Human resources	More than 100 staffs	35.70%	90.90%
Revenue	More than 100 billion VND/year	42.90%	81.80%

(Sources: Results of the survey).

below. The following part of this paper presents the detailed results of the analysis of the sample.

4. Results

As mentioned in the methodology, we classify the low-carbon-emission operation in Vietnam into four groups: freight transportation, warehousing, packaging, and information system. By measuring the application of each group in both Vietnam companies and foreign companies, this section focuses on comparing and highlighting the different levels of action undertaken to reduce carbon emissions in the two types of companies. Some causes will be discussed accordingly. Data from the applied measurement are displayed in four figures, according to the four groups of low-carbon emissions. In addition, Appendix B is used as an additional source to show the gap between the means of the adopted level of each activity in foreign- and non-foreign-invested companies: the gap indexes highlighted in red belong to the highest gap group, data in orange represent the second group, and pink is the lowest. Green data indicate that the gap is negative, meaning Vietnamese LSPs are more active than foreign LSPs in applying that initiative.

In general,

Table 3. The level of low-carbon operation in freight transportation applied in non-foreign-invested and foreign-invested LSPs in Vietnam.

Code	Description	Foreign-Invested Company		Non-Foreign-Invested Companies
		Mean	Std. Dev	Mean	Std. Dev
TR1	Optimising transportation load	4.18	0.73	3.67	1.11
TR2	Minimising the “zero” truckload	4.09	1.10	3.79	1.17
TR3	Replacing road by waterways and railways transportation	2.64	1.45	2.81	1.44
TR4	Switching to use environmentally friendly means of transportation	3.73	1.15	2.77	1.21
TR5	Increasing use of environmentally friendly fuels	3.91	1.33	3.10	1.36
TR6	Installing emission control systems for vehicles	3.45	1.09	2.45	1.32

(Sources: Results of the survey).

shows that foreign-invested companies are more likely to adopt operations in freight transportation to reduce carbon emissions than non-foreign-invested companies, with positive mean gaps that are mostly ranked from 0.3 to 1, and 50% of those data are marked in red, i.e., in the highest gap group (Appendix B). On the one hand, optimising transportation load and minimising the “zero” truckload are the most common activities used in both types of companies; 100% of foreign LSPs and 88.8% of Vietnam LSPs applied these activities, although the act of replacing roads with waterways and rail transport is rarely used. On the other hand, regardless of having foreign investment, almost standard deviations are higher than one and there is very insignificant difference between those two groups of companies. Hence, there is a strong view that the applied levels are spread among different companies. This can be explained by the variety of company sizes and total income, as mentioned before.

Respondents from companies that had foreign investment pointed out that they have higher adoption of reducing carbon-emission operations in warehouses, in comparison with those that received capital from Vietnamese only. (

Table 4. The level of low-carbon operation in warehousing applied in non-foreign-invested and foreign-invested LSPs in Vietnam.

Code	Description	Foreign-Invested Company		Non-Foreign-Invested Companies
		Mean	Std. Dev	Mean	Std. Dev
WH1	Using solar energy system at warehouse	2.91	1.59	2.26	1.35
WH2	Using energy-saving lighting equipment	3.55	1.09	3.62	1.22
WH3	Using environmentally friendly fuel in loading and unloading vehicles	3.09	0.91	2.93	1.32
WH4	Controlling energy consumption in the warehouse	4.00	1.22	3.57	1.30
WH5	Using automatic equipment at the warehouse	3.45	0.79	3.21	1.32
WH6	Using a combination of multiple energy sources in the operation of the warehouse	3.64	0.99	2.95	1.26
WH6	Using recycled/environmentally friendly materials in building the warehouse	3.64	0.90	2.95	1.03
WH8	Warehouses are located at convenient traffic areas	4.45	0.79	3.90	1.16
WH9	Warehouses are located far from residential areas	4.27	0.76	3.60	1.20

(Sources: Results of the survey).

) The average means of Vietnam LSPs is 3.22 while the average means of foreign-invested companies is 3.67, with eight out of nine indexes being higher. In addition, the warehouse is the sector having the most remarkable difference in the adopted levels between the two types of companies: four out of nine indexes belong to highest gap group (0.65–1) and are highlighted in red (Appendix B). Furthermore, based on the survey results, most foreign-invested LSPs are likely to apply low-carbon warehouse activities, with six out of nine standard deviations lower than 1. However, the adopted levels in non-foreign-invested companies are more diverse, with all standard deviations being higher than 1; specifically, most indexes are higher than 1.2. In general, it is clear that low-carbon-emission operations are both limited and unevenly applied in the warehousing sector of domestic LSPs.

In packaging sectors, the general adoption level of the company that received capital from oversea sources is still higher than that of domestic firms, which is a common trend (

Table 5. The level of low-carbon operation in packaging applied in non-foreign-invested and foreign-invested LSPs in Vietnam.

Code	Description	Foreign-Invested Company		Non-Foreign-Invested Companies
		Mean	Std. Dev	Mean	Std. Dev
PA1	Using reusable packaging	4.00	0.75	3.60	0.88
PA2	Using recyclable packaging	3.55	1.09	3.50	1.01
PA3	Using biodegradable and biodegradable packaging	3.27	1.07	3.12	1.08
PA4	Asking partners to use eco-friendly packaging	3.09	1.10	2.88	1.08
PA5	Optimising the amount of goods contained in each package	4.00	0.75	3.88	0.88
PA6	Managing used packaging	3.82	0.85	3.76	1.16

(Sources: Results of the survey).

). However, the low-carbon operation in packaging is recorded in the group that has the most consistent adopted measurement in the comparison between foreign-invested and domestic firms. The gaps between the means of these two types of company are nearly all marked in pink, i.e., the lowest group, with most figures lower than 0.2. Moreover, the standard deviations of both foreign- and non-foreign-invested firms are all lower than one for PA1, PA4, and PA5, while they are higher than one for PA2, PA3, and PA4. Hence, nearly all low-carbon activities in the packaging sector are applied with a similar diversity in both types of companies. On the other hand, according to the survey, only 3% of 159 companies have never applied any operation to reduce carbon emissions in packaging. Nearly 60% of the respondents use environmentally friendly operations more often in packaging. Therefore, packaging is considered an easy group in which to adopt low-carbon-emission operations.

Compared with the other three groups of low-carbon emissions, technology has the highest average mean of adoption level in both types of firms: 4.62 for overseas-invested companies and 4.33 for domestic companies (

Table 6. The level of low-carbon operation in technology applied at non-foreign-invested and foreign-invested LSPs in Vietnam.

Code	Description	Foreign-Invested Company		Non-Foreign-Invested Companies
		Mean	Std. Dev	Mean	Std. Dev
TE1	Replacing paper invoices and vouchers by electronic invoices and vouchers	4.55	0.67	4.48	0.80
TE2	Digitising documents and internal data systems	4.55	0.51	4.36	0.75
TE3	Using information technology to manage orders	4.73	0.45	4.38	0.69
TE4	Using information technology to plan order fulfilment	4.73	0.45	4.29	0.63
TE5	Using information technology to design logistics networks	4.55	0.51	4.14	0.84

(Sources: Results of the survey).

). On the scale of 5, nearly all foreign-invested LSPs have the application level at 4 or 5; only 9.1% of respondents often (score 3) applied low-carbon-emission operation, specifically by using electronic invoices and vouchers. For companies having only Vietnamese investment, the mean data are lower, but mostly still higher than 4.3. When comparing the means of the applied level of each activity in the technology group, there are no data marked in red. This means that the applied level in the two company typesare similar in every kind of technology operation. This is reasonable because technology serves as a means to improve the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the logistics system, not only simplifying tasks but also saving time and costs and reducing the labour required for operations [35]. Furthermore, the applied level of reducing carbon emissions in technology is remarkably consistent among companies. Based on the survey, the standard deviations of Vietnamese companies are all less than 0.84, while the similar indexes of foreign-invested companies are even lower than 0.67. Hence, technology is the only one of the four mentioned groups having 100% of standard deviations lower than one. All data strongly show that technology is applied widely in reducing carbon emissions, regardless of the type of business, company size, or history of development.

By calculating the gap of the 26 indexes of collected adoption levels in foreign- and non-foreign-invested companies, it can be seen that there are only two negative gaps, while the 24 other values are higher than zero. (Figure 2) In general, nearly all companies that received capital from foreigners applied low-carbon-emission operations more widely than those that only received domestic investment. In this case, the largest gaps belong to activities that require a significant budget for investment in properties, such as the means of transportation, control system, environmentally friendly systems, or other kinds of long-term changes such as fuels. In addition, the smallest gaps relate to optimising the usage of companies owning low-value items such as lighting equipment.

The first reason for this difference between the two types of companies in the adoption of low-carbon-emission operation could be the capital background. According to the Vietnam Logistics Report 2022, the financial potential of Vietnamese logistics companies is limited, with 55.1% of established enterprises having a registered capital of less than VND one billion. Within the limitation of financial resources, it is extremely difficult for Vietnam LSPs to be able afford to update new technology, transfer transportation means, and invest in facilities to enhance effectiveness and accordingly reduce greenhouse gases.

As seen in Figure 3, the level of implementing emission-reduction activities by Vietnamese logistics companies in all four criteria—freight transportation, information system, warehousing, and packaging—is lower compared to that of logistics service companies with foreign investments. The particularly significant differences in adoption levels stem from areas that require substantial capital investment, such as infrastructure facilities and means of transport.

Some have expressed strong opinions about the gap in the acknowledgement and effort to cut down carbon emissions between developed and developing countries. According to Delgado (2021): “The Paris Agreement acknowledges that efforts toward reducing carbon emissions will be common but not equal among developed and developing countries. The fairness of these contributions will be determined by national circumstances so that there will be equity in the responses and responsibilities to address climate change.” This means that developing countries will continue to emit more carbon until they are developed enough and independent from the carbon-intensive industry. In addition, Younis (2015) states that developing countries still lack knowledge about the consequences of emissions, and their pursuit of profit and economic growth prevents leaders from making ethical decisions to protect the environment. Most of the foreign-invested LSPs in Vietnam are from developed countries such as Denmark (Maersk), Japan (Yusen), and Germany (DHL, DB Schenker). It is obvious that their awareness of environmental protection is more comprehensive than that of companies originating from developing countries such as Vietnam. Consequently, to reduce carbon emissions for each operation group, foreign-invested companies always have higher adoption levels than Vietnam’s government-owned companies.

Finally, the dominance of LSPs having overseas resources is also considered to be one of the most important factors explaining why foreign-invested firms applied more low-carbon-emission operations. Logistics experts commented that the number of foreign-invested LSPs in Vietnam is quite small compared with the total number of logistics service providers in Vietnam; specifically, there are 25 firms, but these accounted for 75–80% of the market share [36]. Moreover, almost foreign-invested firms in Vietnam are operating globally. Therefore, foreign companies invested in Vietnam have extraordinary backgrounds and experience, significant financial and human resources, and a comprehensive understanding of the environment. At the same time, worldwide operation also requires that those firms comply with the environmental regulations of each country and area, especially in the cases of countries that signed the Kyoto Protocol. In particular, those countries set goals to reduce CO₂ by commitment periods: parties committed to reduce GHG emissions by at least 18 percent below 1990 levels in the eight-year period from 2013 to 2020. In order to achieve that goal, nearly all participating countries set up related regulations to lower carbon emissions; for example, the US released National GHG emission standards for light trucks, i.e., The Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles (SAFE) for Model Years 2021–2026. (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2021). Consequently, these regulations force all international LSPs to apply low-carbon emission activities and, obviously, foreign-invested LSPs in Vietnam cannot avoid these regulations while they are operating as a part of global logistics systems.

5. Discussion

5.1. Contributions and Implications

A large number of studies have been conducted on various aspects of low-carbon emissions, and some of these refer to the logistics field and the drivers of the application of low-carbon practices. However, the current papers mainly discussed the influences of drivers on the application of low-carbon practices in the logistics industry in general or, in particular, in a minor aspect such as warehousing. Moreover, although Vietnam is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and the logistics segment of this nation is growing fast, the matter of reducing the low-carbon emissions of logistics service providers has not been properly analysed.

The contributions of this paper have filled some of the research gaps. A theoretical framework for low-carbon measures that are applicable for logistics service providers in the Vietnam market has been proposed and revised. The level of application has been analysed, revealing that initiatives in information technology are implemented the most. Meanwhile, among the four categories, the adoption of low-carbon practices in warehousing services is more limited in both Vietnamese and foreign LSPs.

A comparison was made between the applications of foreign-invested firms and non-foreign-invested firms, which has not been investigated before. It can be generally concluded that foreign LSPs are, on average, more active in applying low-carbon practices, in all sectors: transportation, warehousing, packaging, and information technology. The largest gaps can be observed in initiatives in categories of transportation and warehousing. This implies that Vietnamese LSPs pay attention to practices for cutting carbon emissions in these two activities much less than the foreign competitors, and particularly those practices requiring energy switching and investment in equipment such as solar systems, transportation means, and emission controllers.

These findings are consistent with the views of the experts gathered from the in-depth interviews. To be more precise, the more active participation of foreign-invested LSPs in investment-demanding solutions could be the result of the difference in the capital background of the two groups. The external subjects surveyed were global logistics companies, which have long budgeted for green initiatives. These applications can not only contribute to their corporate image enhancement, but also allow them to comply with local regulations of any markets they enter. For that reason, domestic LSPs can refer to these research results to allocate investment to low-carbon practices in the future.

In the context of Vietnam, Local Service Providers (LSPs) may concentrate on several solutions in the near future to enhance their carbon emission reduction efforts and approach the emissions levels of foreign-invested enterprises, thereby increasing global competitiveness. Firstly, businesses can bolster the utilisation of renewable energy sources, such as solar energy, within their warehouse systems. Secondly, businesses can invest in energy-efficient equipment and emission control devices for transportation vehicles. Vietnam’s current fleet of transportation vehicles exhibits a relatively long average lifespan and employs low-standard emission control technologies that are not consistent with global standards. Given the availability of these vehicles, this constitutes one of the feasible methods for carbon emission reduction that can be readily implemented by domestic LSPs. Domestic LSPs can also intensify the use of recyclable and reusable packaging materials to minimise environmental emissions. This solution may necessitate significant short-term investments in information technology systems for tracking packaging and appropriate equipment; however, it will ensure long-term economic benefits while simultaneously upholding the Vietnamese government’s environmental commitments.

To effectively implement the aforementioned solutions within businesses, the government needs to enact a comprehensive and transparent set of policies aimed at creating conditions or incentivising businesses to reduce carbon emissions. The government should establish a robust legal framework for Vietnamese LSPs to understand the critical role of carbon emission reduction in sustainable economic development, as well as to provide a secure legal basis for their investments in carbon emission reduction activities. Furthermore, the government can implement policies to encourage investments in carbon emission reduction activities by LSPs.

5.2. Limitations and Suggestions

One of the limitations of this research study pertains to the research methodology employed for data analysis. The study utilised a qualitative approach (expert interviews) in conjunction with a statistical description to generate discussion. More advanced quantitative methods such as T-tests or ANOVA analysis were not employed in this study. The research methods used in this study aimed to provide initial insights into carbon emission reduction measures in two groups of LSPs operating in Vietnam. In subsequent studies, T-tests or ANOVA analysis will be employed to validate the findings of this research with the use of a larger dataset.

As can be extracted from the discussion, the levels of low-carbon adoption of different types of LSPs varied, from which it can be concretely concluded that there are factors affecting their application. Within the scope of this study, the potential causes have been partially explored via a qualitative approach using an in-depth discussion, encompassing the financial background, awareness level, and global market participation. Therefore, further empirical studies can examine this segment, especially by reviewing the current literature and numerically investigating the criteria or barriers affecting the application process. These directions have been explored in a small number of studies, but this has mainly been for supply chain participants rather than logistics service providers, and not yet for the local case in Vietnam.

In addition, the measurement of the performance of these initiatives has been relatively neglected. As discussed above, these measures demand investment and basically add a cost burden for the firms. Therefore, their efficiency should be evaluated in order to support LSPs in making decisions to continue the application or further strengthen any practices. From the interviews, these criteria have been partially explored. Most of the experts interviewed suggested that low-carbon practices can be reflected through the level of energy consumption, carbon emissions, customer judgement, and the green image of the firm. However, both groups of LSPs hold a quite neutral assessment of these performance factors, ranging from 3.2 to 3.6 on average. Therefore, this leaves room for studies in the future to explore and empirically assess the efficiency of low-carbon practices, particularly in the Vietnamese logistics industry.