Adding a Transport and Distribution card

• 01/10/2024
• 6 minutes to read

Continia Sustainability features a default emission source for Transportation and Distribution, enabling companies to report and monitor GHG emissions associated with transportation services in vehicles not owned or leased by the reporting company. These include:

• Transportation and distribution by a tier 1 supplier of products that you purchased.
• Transportation and distribution services that you purchased through an intermediary, including inbound logistics, outbound logistics (e.g., of sold products), and transportation and distribution between your own facilities.
• Transportation and distribution of products that you sell to the end consumer, including retail and storage.

Scope

Transportation and distribution of purchased products that occur upstream of a company's Tier 1 suppliers (such as the transportation between Tier 2 and Tier 1 suppliers) are usually already included in the cradle-to-gate emissions of purchased products. Therefore, they are already accounted for in Category 1.

The transportation and distribution mentioned above contribute to emissions that are categorized under Scope 3. Upstream transportation and distribution emissions are reported under Category 4, which is Upstream Transportation and Distribution. Meanwhile, downstream transportation and distribution emissions are accounted for in Category 9, which is Downstream Transportation and Distribution.

The impact of such emissions on a company's overall footprint depends on the type of company, the industry, and the sector.

For useful information on how to account for emissions from transportation and distribution activities, see the Accounting for emissions from transportation and distribution activities in the value chain table from the GHG Protocol Scope 3 standard.

To gather the data

When assessing emissions for Transportation and Distribution, data can typically be acquired from receipts or purchase records of transportation services. Ideally, the data gathered should be expressed in distance. In case this information is unavailable, collecting data on value spent is also acceptable, but least preferred due to cost fluctuation and the influence of the market offer, currency, and inflation.

To add a Transport and Distribution card

After understanding how you can gather data to track emissions sources, you can implement Transport and Distribution cards. You have the flexibility to categorize the expenses as granularly as you want. For instance, you can create a broad category encompassing all emissions related to a category type (food, metals, electrical items) or opt for individual cards dedicated to each item.

To add a Transport and Distribution card:

1. Use the icon, enter Transport and distribution, and select the related link.

2. On the action bar, select New.

3. On the Transport and Distribution card, you can now enter information for, for example, the account type and the Emission Factor Set that you want to connect your data to.

4. On the General FastTab, go to the Type field to specify the expense type. The options are:

   • Upstream transportation - refers to the emissions resulting from the transport and distribution of purchased goods, raw materials, and other essential inputs for an organization's operations.
   • Downstream transportation - for transportation of goods and services between the company and the customers.

5. Go to the Data Source FastTab, to select an account.

6. Go to the Emission Factors FastTab, to select the relevant data set to calculate the emissions.

   [!TIP]

   Once in use, the card also shows you the total accumulated carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions balance, the last data modified, and so on. For more information on how to use these fields, refer to The Fields on the Environmental Account Card article.

7. After adding the relevant categories of Transport and Distribution, the main page will provide an overview of the types and emissions balance, among other details. This page can be particularly useful for analyzing how various item types or suppliers impact your company’s footprint and help you better manage each of them.