Scope 3 emissions from the transportation of employees for business-related activities in transport means owned or operated by third parties (e.g. airplane, train, bus, car, etc).
This category does not include:
Emissions from transportation in vehicle owned or controlled by the reporting company (scope 1 for fuel use or scope 2 for electricity use)
Emissions from leased vehicles operated by the reporting company (Scope 1 - Company vehicles, Scope 2 - Purchased electricity or Scope 3 - Assets leased from others)
Emissions from transportation of employees to and from work (Scope 3 - Employee commuting)
Companies can also report on emissions from employees staying in hotels during Business travel.
Scope of emissions source
How this Category aligns to carbon accounting standards
The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard is an internationally recognized go-to standard for estimating and reporting corporate GHG emissions. GHG emissions are categorised into three 'Scopes'.
Scope 3 emissions are all indirect emissions – not included in scope 2 – that occur in the value chain of the reporting company. In other words, the emissions that are linked to the company’s operations. Activities covered by scope 3 emissions are diverse, but sit in two high level categories:
Upstream emissions are indirect emissions related to purchased or acquired goods and services (all the emissions occurring to the point of receipt by the company: material sourcing and pre-processing)
Downstream emissions are indirect emissions related to sold goods and services (all the emissions occurring after being sold by the reporting company: distribution, storage, use, end-of-life)
The Cozero category, Business travel, is an upstream source of scope 3 emissions, as defined by the GHG Protocol. All emission calculation methodologies follow the requirements for this scope of emission accounting.
Summary of calculation methods
Here are the different calculation methods available on the Log to calculate scope 3 emissions from Business travel. This covers the following modes of travel; taxi, train travel, flight travel, rental car travel, and also emissions from hotel stay.
These methods are listed in order of how accurate the methodology is, according to accounting methods. Users should choose the method that is the most appropriate to the data available to them, to their business goals and the significance of the emissions of the category.
Fuel Consumption Method
Emissions are estimated by collecting data on the quantity of fuel used by employees to commute from their home to the office during the reporting period and multiplying by the relevant emission factor.
Activity data: volume of fuel or electricity (in case of electric means of transport) used by employees in kWh. The Log provides conversion of other units.
Emission factor: the Log is providing a default fuel emission factor (kgCO2e/kWh) but users can also enter supplier-specific emission factors.
Distance Method
Emissions are estimated by collecting data on the total distance travelled by employees to commute from their home to the office during the reporting period and multiplying by the relevant emission factor.
Activity data: Total distance travelled in km for all your employees per means of transport.
The Log also provides conversion if your data are not in km.
Emission factor: the Log is providing a default distance emission factor (kgCO2e/vehicle-km or kgCO2e/passenger-km) but users can also enter supplier-specific emission factors.
Direct emission input
Users can enter the amount of emissions in CO2e directly in the log. They need to make sure of the accuracy of data used in this estimation.
How to report emissions on Cozero?
Step 1: Select the Log called Business travel
Step 2: Select the sub-category – transport means – you want to report on (e.g. taxi, bus, etc.)
Step 3: Select the method of emission calculation
Step 4: Enter the relevant activity data, selecting the correct units from the dropdown list.
The Log will automatically calculate the emissions for the amount spent on the transport means selected.
Hotel stay emissions
It is possible to calculate emissions from hotel stays of your employees during Business travel. Emissions are estimated by collecting data on the number of nights and location of hotels and multiplying it by the relevant emission factor.
Activity data: number of nights spent in hotels during Business Travel within the reporting period and location of these hotels.
Emission factor: the Log is providing a default emission factor for hotel stay (kgCO2e/number of nights).
How to report emissions on Cozero?
Step 1: Select the Log called Business travel
Step 2: Select the sub-category called Hotel stay
Step 3: Enter the number of nights spent there
Step 4: Select the country where the hotel is located
The Log will automatically calculate the emissions for hotel stays.
Note that you can also enter directly the amount of emission produced by the number of nights spent in hotels on the log.
Where can I find data?
Activity Data:
Automatic tracking through a travel agency or through an internal system
Surveys of employees
Companies can also use a representative sample of their employees and then extrapolate the result of the survey to the whole company.
Supplier-Specific Emission Factors: It is possible for users to customize the emission factors used to calculate emissions. Most of the time, it is recommended to customize the emission factors if you can obtain emission factors from your suppliers. Supplier-specific data is the most accurate because it relates to the specific activity purchased by the reporting company (e.g. electricity, goods and services, etc.).
Users may send survey to the relevant suppliers requesting the following information:
Product life cycle GHG emissions data (following the GHG Protocol Product Standard)
A description of the methodologies used to quantify the emissions and a description of the data sources used (e.g. emission factors)
Whether the data has been assured or verified and, if so, the type of assurance achieved (preference should be given to verified data)
Ratio of primary and secondary data used to calculate the emission factor
If possible, the data provided by the supplier should be for the same time interval as the company’s inventory.
Note that data quality is an iterative process and should be built over time. Therefore there is no need to have the perfect data right away. For more information on data collection see the article on data sourcing.
FAQ
For additional information on the calculation of scope 3 emissions, users can refer to the GHG Protocol Guidance. Please get in touch with our team if there is a frequent need to make use of this Log emission category and you require additional support in the calculation of emissions.