Counterfeiting and its Correlation to Declining Sustainability
Counterfeiting is truly a Menace to our Planet’s Sustainability. Know How?
Sustainability means fulfilling the needs of current generations without compromising the needs of future generations while ensuring a balance between economic growth, environmental care and social well-being.
However, counterfeiters neglect these factors and create a disbalance between the aforementioned. Let us try to understand the mechanism of counterfeiting and how it affects the planet’s sustainability at each step of its journey — from manufacturing to distribution.
1. Emissions and ‘Global Boiling’:
Since WHO claimed that we are now entering a ‘Global Boiling’ state of the environment, it would be an understatement to say that “Counterfeiting” will not be a significant factor justifying the claim.
The question is how? According to a Statista report, the global parcel shipping volume until 2019 was 103.2 Billion and is expected to double by 2026 — reaching 266 Billion Parcels.
Computing this data to the 2.5% of Counterfeits traded worldwide, it results in 6.65 Million parcels — which was merely 2.58 Million in 2019.
It is a highly-graving concern, as the number of counterfeits traded worldwide would be more than double in merely seven years.
2. Carbon Footprint of Transit and Last-Mile Delivery:
There has been a growing demand for parcel shipments since the world resumed post-lockdown, and the masses prefer to purchase ‘everything’ online — from a wristwatch to a dairy product.
Moreover, as per Europe Geopost and cited by DPD, the transport of a parcel drives on average 0.6 kg (or 600 grammes) of CO2 emissions — corresponding to a volume of 305 litres or about 122 inflated balloons.
This new behavioural change in purchasing patterns indicates 36% more delivery vehicles in inner cities by 2030.
In most cases, these parcels come a long way across the globe to reach a customer’s doorstep. However, when the parcel turns out to be a ‘Counterfeit’, the entire invested efforts through the supply chain from first-mile to last-mile delivery go into vain.
As per a report by Stand.earth, the collective last-mile emissions of the three major regions (Europe, India, and North America) are 7,450,000 tonnes of CO2 alone in 2021. Considering only 2.5% of the parcels shipped were counterfeit, it still comes down to 186,250 tonnes of CO2 — roughly equivalent to half-a-million petrol passenger vehicles.
Therefore, alone in 2021, around 1.8 tonnes of CO2 during last-mile emissions was a ‘null and void’ for sustainable worldwide commerce — let alone the emissions in first-mile transits.
3. Economic Costs of Counterfeiting:
Since these mitigation and lawsuit procedures involve significant time, money, and human resources; the economic costs associated with counterfeiting are far from sustainable. A report by the International Chamber of Commerce estimates that the total, actual value of counterfeited goods globally could vary between $1.77 Trillion and $4.5 Trillion — which is roughly equal to the annual nominal GDP of Canada and growing at a rate of 18% per annum (as per the U.S. Intellectual Property/Counterfeit Goods report).
Interestingly, counterfeit market trade was worth $449 billion in 2019, which, when compared to the GDPs of the European Countries, positions above Ireland’s Economy.
But, the question appears about ‘How is it affecting the Global Economic Sustainability?’
The loss of Jobs is a clear indication that due to the influx of counterfeits in the market.
Moreover, the company or sector bearing the ramifications of counterfeiting witnesses massive losses in two ways:
- Loss of Sales leading to Revenue Deprivation
- Insufficiency of relevant Talent leads to hindrances in Innovation and Assets
As a consequence, not only an individual’s contribution is lacking, but the contributions of the entire company thwart the Sustainable Growth of the Economy.
4. Counterfeiting’s Impact on Individual Health:
Apart from the inevitable ramifications of the received counterfeited products due to the presence & usage of sub-standard materials, it is affecting your health & safety even before the ‘dubious small parcel’ arrives at your doorstep.
Apparently, the danger of measuring CO2 inhalation is better understood in terms of concentration rather than mass. Any counterfeit parcel dispatched from the manufacturer adds to elevations in the CO2 levels in the atmosphere — leading to greater concentration levels.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, a concentration of CO2 in air above 40,000 ppm (part per million) is an immediate danger to Life & Health.
Alone in 2021, the global last-mile carbon emissions were more than 5,000 times than the maximum threshold to put a question to life.
Eventually, the cumulative consequences of these factors result in deteriorating the global population’s health — causing damage to physical and social well-being, thereby affecting global sustainability efforts.
Addressing the detrimental impact of counterfeiting on sustainability necessitates robust Mitigation Strategies. These include Fortified Regulations, Synergistic Partnerships among stakeholders and solution providers, advanced Anti-counterfeiting Technologies, Consumer Education, and International Collaboration.
Know how we contribute to the Planet’s Sustainability by stopping Counterfeits way before they reach your customers with our AI-enabled Brand Protection Solution working with Brands & Logistics.
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