World Economic Forum agrees carbon reporting guidelines
The World Economic Forum’s Logistics & Transport Industry Group has agreed standard guidelines for calculating consignment-level carbon emissions from logistics and shipping operations. The Guidelines for Consignment-level Carbon Reporting will help consumers and businesses assess the carbon impact of transporting products and drive carbon efficiency in the freight and logistics sector.
As part of the Supply Chain Decarbonization Initiative, the guidelines were endorsed by the Governors for Logistics & Transport at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2010.
Frank Appel, CEO, Deutsche Post DHL and chairman of the Governors Meeting for Logistics & Transport 2010, said the guidelines were “a practical step forward for our industry in working with customers to move towards low-carbon supply chains.”
“Logistics and transportation providers face growing demand from their retail and manufacturing customers to report the carbon emissions generated by the shipping and handling of products,” said Jonathan Wright, senior executive in Accenture’s Supply Chain Management practice. “These guidelines will help them work towards providing product-level carbon footprint information for their customers.”
The guidelines include principles for defining the scope of emissions to report and how these emissions should be allocated in cases such as shared transport or backhaul.
“By providing accuracy and consistency in carbon reporting, these guidelines help companies to compete meaningfully on environmental efficiency,” commented Sean Doherty, head of logistics & transport industry at the World Economic Forum.
The guidelines complement broader upcoming and existing product-level carbon reporting standards including the GHG Protocol Life Cycle and Scope 3 Standards expected to be released at the end of 2010.
