Requirements and guidelines according to the GHG Protocol
Category 3.4 of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol covers all upstream emissions from the transportation and distribution of purchased goods and services before they become the property of the company. These emissions are different from Scope 3.9 (Downstream transportation and distribution), which covers transportation during delivery to customers. This includes both transportation by external logistics service providers and distribution by suppliers before the goods reach the company.
Important requirements
Source identification: Companies should analyze all transportation routes of purchased goods and services, including road, rail, air, ocean and barge freight.
Recording methods: Calculations can be made using transport-based emission factors (e.g. kg CO2e per tonne-kilometer) or supplier-specific data.
Emission factors: Use of standardized emission factors from recognized databases such as GLEC Framework, DEFRA or national environmental authorities. NetCero supports volume-based (t/km) methods for the calculation.
Reporting period: The recorded emissions should be synchronized with the corresponding purchase and delivery data.
Units: Transport emissions should be documented in tonne-kilometers (tkm) or absolute emission values (kg CO2e) depending on availability.
Recording in NetCero
Follow these steps to record upstream transportation and distribution emissions in NetCero:
Create activity: record all relevant transportation routes as separate activities in the system.
Assign responsibility: Designate a person responsible for data entry and maintenance.
Assign data entry object: Assign each activity to the correct business unit to ensure clear allocation and analysis.
Select emission factors: Users standardized emission factors from the NetCero database.
Define your own emission factors: Add company-specific factors if more accurate data is available from Suppliers.
Document transport volumes: Record the transported volume and distance directly in the table within the activity - based on waybills or invoices.
Automatic emission calculation: NetCero calculates the emissions per transport route and integrates them into the overall balance.
Examples of upstream transportation and distribution emissions
Example 1: Delivery of production material by truck
A medium-sized production company receives 1,000 tons of raw material per year by truck over a distance of 200 km. If the emission factor for road freight transport is 0.1 kg CO2e/tkm, the emissions amount to
1,000t x 200km x 0.1kgCO2e/tkm = 20,000 kgCO2e (20 tCO2e)
Example 2: Sea freight of electronic components
A company imports 500 tons of electronic components by sea freight over a distance of 8,000 km. If the emission factor for sea freight is 0.015 kg CO2e/tkm, the emissions amount to
500t x 8,000km x 0.015kgCO2e/tkm = 60,000 kgCO2e (60 tCO2e)
Example 3: Air freight for urgent spare parts
A company orders 20 tons of spare parts per year by air freight over a distance of 4,000 km. For short-haul flights, the emission factor can vary between 0.5 and 1.3 kg CO2e/tkm. If the emission factor for air freight is 0.6 kg CO2e/tkm, the emissions amount to
20t x 4,000km x 1.3kgCO2e/tkm = 104,000 kgCO2e (104 tCO2e)
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