Management starts with measurement. This holds true for environmental impact as it does for budgets or inventory. Emissions accounting is tedious due to the sources and variables required to calculate. This is the challenge with measuring the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation of your goods. Calculations are typically done manually by creating a spreadsheet of all shipments from freight forwarding or last-mile shipping services. This process can cost businesses hours of manual work or thousands of dollars in consulting fees.

That’s why we’re proud to offer our new Open Emission Calculator, a free*, publicly available tool that automates this process so you can get started on transportation emissions measurement while saving time and money. The Open Emissions Calculator is part of Flexport.org’s comprehensive suite of climate solutions and is an important tool for companies of all sizes that report and disclose their GHG footprint, either through voluntary commitments or government regulation.

Reporting on your emissions can be just as hard as reducing your impact. Emissions are characterized as direct (Scope 1) or indirect (Scope 2 and 3). Indirect Scope 3 emissions under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol are often referred to as value chain emissions and are subdivided into 15 categories, including transportation. Scope 3 emissions often represent the majority of a company’s overall footprint. They are also one of the most difficult to measure and mitigate because they are outside the direct control of the reporting company. This limits access to contextual knowledge and data required for calculating these emissions.

But, measuring transportation emissions doesn’t have to be a burden.

The Flexport.org Solution

Flexport.org’s new Open Emissions Calculator uses the same computing power and analytics as Flexport’s accredited** GHG emissions calculator. Now, any organization can use the Open Emissions Calculator to estimate their transportation footprint for up to ten shipments by providing some basic shipment information. If you create a Flexport account and upload a CSV, you can calculate up to 20,000 shipment emissions at once.

How It Works

Once the shipment information is provided, the tool estimates emissions for each shipment, taking into account unique characteristics such as the distance traveled, cargo weight, and more. If you have a multitude of shipments to analyze, we make it easy to set up a free account to measure emissions for thousands of shipments at a time.

Streamlining your transportation calculations allows you to focus on the hard part: finding ways to reduce emissions across your supply chain. Having your transportation emissions calculations in one place with detailed, centralized reporting makes it easier to prioritize environmental action in your business operations. With the calculator, you can track your emissions by transportation mode, supplier, region, and more, and the data can be exported to further integrate with your reporting systems for analysis and sharing.

Comprehensive Climate Solutions to Mitigate Your Impact

By putting your shipment data to work, any supply chain, logistics, or sustainability manager can measure the emissions of the transportation of your goods. Armed with the right tools, emissions disclosure, and reporting become less of a burden. The Open Emissions Calculator allows you to get started calculating your transportation footprint today.

More importantly, measurement establishes the baseline to start mitigating emissions through various climate actions, all of which can easily be managed through the Flexport platform. Flexport.org offers a suite of climate solutions, from emissions measurement and analytics, to low-carbon fuel certificates (check out Sustainable Aviation Fuel and Marine Biofuels, carbon offsets, and consultative services).

Transportation emissions accounting doesn’t have to be expensive or tedious. Flexport.org’s Open Emissions Calculator does the work for you, helping you get started on your way toward managing and reducing your emissions. Flexport is committed to helping our clients decarbonize their supply chains. Get in touch with our team via climate@flexport.com to find out more.

*Any organization can use the Open Emissions Calculator to estimate their transportation footprint for up to 10 shipments by providing some basic shipment information. If you create a Flexport account and upload a CSV, you can calculate up to 20,0000 shipment emissions at once.

**Flexport’s Emissions Calculator is accredited annually by the Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) and is in conformance with ISO-14083.