Logistics Emissions — Quick Glossary

Any gas that traps heat in the atmosphere and contributes to climate change. In logistics, the main one is carbon dioxide (CO₂), but methane and nitrous oxide also matter — which is why you’ll see the unit CO₂e (CO₂ equivalent), a single number that captures all gases on the same scale.

The total amount of greenhouse gases produced — directly or indirectly — by an activity, company, or product, expressed in kilograms or tonnes of CO₂e. For a shipment, it’s the sum of all emissions from every leg of the journey.

The most widely used international accounting framework for measuring and managing greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, it created the Scope 1/2/3 classification system used by almost every corporate sustainability report in the world. Think of it as the accounting rulebook that other standards (like ISO 14083) build on top of.

The international standard (published March 2023) that sets the rules for calculating and reporting GHG emissions from transport chain operations. As a result, it covers all transport modes globally — road, rail, sea, air, pipelines — and defines how every calculation must be structured, so that results from different companies are easy to compare. → Full ISO 14083 guide

The Global Logistics Emissions Council Framework — the practical companion to ISO 14083, developed by Smart Freight Centre. While ISO 14083 sets the rules, the GLEC Framework provides the data (emission factors, default datasets) and guidance that logistics companies need to actually apply those rules. As a result, GLEC Framework v3 is fully aligned with ISO 14083:2023. → Full GLEC Framework guide

Greenhouse gases released directly from things your company owns or controls — the exhaust from your own truck fleet, the boiler in your warehouse, the forklifts in your distribution centre.

Emissions from energy you purchase — primarily electricity. Even though the power plant is somewhere else, the pollution it created to generate your electricity counts as yours.

All other indirect emissions that happen because of your business but from sources you don’t own — hired freight companies, the raw materials you buy, business travel, the products customers use after buying from you.

In practice, for most companies that ship goods, this is their largest emissions category. Freight sits here — in Categories 4 (upstream transport) and 9 (downstream transport). → Scope emissions in logistics — full guide

The company or person sending the goods. The “Sender” on a shipping label. The transport chain officially starts at the consignor’s door.

The company or person receiving the goods. The “Recipient” on a shipping label. The chain ends when goods reach the consignee.

A company hired to organise and coordinate the movement of goods. They often act as the middleman between the sender and the carriers (truck companies, shipping lines) that do the physical work. For example, a freight forwarder is a type of LSP.

Think of it as: A professional travel agent — but for your parcels, not your holidays.

The company that physically moves the goods using their own vehicles — a trucking company, a shipping line, an airline. Carriers own or operate the transport assets. In practice, an LSP may subcontract several carriers for a single shipment.

The complete sequence of steps needed to move goods from sender to receiver — every truck, ship, warehouse stop, and port. To get the total carbon footprint of a delivery, you add up the emissions from every step in this chain.

A single link in the transport chain — one specific truck leg, one sea voyage, one stay at a warehouse. Because goods often travel on multiple vehicles, the whole journey is broken into TCEs so each one can be calculated separately, then added together.

The standard unit of measurement for freight transport work. You multiply the weight of the cargo (in tonnes) by the distance it travels (in kilometres).

This single number lets you compare the “effort” of a massive container ship to a small delivery van on equal terms.

A folder of similar trips grouped together — for example, all journeys made by 40-tonne diesel HGVs on motorway routes. Instead of calculating every individual delivery separately, you compute an average emission intensity for the whole group. Useful for companies managing large fleets where individual data is hard to collect.

Think of it as: Grouping all your week’s commutes together to work out your average weekly fuel cost, rather than calculating each trip individually.

The same concept as a TOC, but for logistics nodes — warehouses, ports, sorting terminals, distribution centres. Similarly, it groups similar facilities together so their average carbon cost (energy use, equipment) can be calculated and reported.

The pollution score for a particular vehicle type or transport mode — how much CO₂e it produces per tonne-kilometre. You multiply the tonne-kilometres by this factor to get the carbon footprint for that leg.

These factors are published in the GLEC Framework for every major transport mode and vehicle type. → How logistics emissions are calculated

A percentage showing how full a vehicle is relative to its maximum capacity. For example, a truck carrying 8 tonnes out of a possible 20 has a 40% load factor.

In other words, a full vehicle is more efficient per item than a half-empty one. As a result, higher load factor = lower emissions per tonne-kilometre.

Think of it as: A bus that burns the same fuel whether it carries 5 passengers or 50 — the more people on board, the lower the carbon cost per person.

The return leg of a trip after a delivery. Even if the truck drives back empty, those emissions are still counted — they’re assigned to the goods that were delivered. This prevents companies from ignoring the environmental cost of return journeys.

Think of it as: A taxi that drives you home but has to return empty to the taxi rank. You implicitly paid for both legs of that trip.

The process of fairly splitting emissions when a vehicle carries goods for multiple customers at once. Specifically, each customer is responsible for the share of pollution matching their cargo’s weight and distance.

Think of it as: Splitting a dinner bill. You don’t charge the whole table for what one person ordered — you divide it based on what each person actually consumed.

Real measurements from a specific journey — actual fuel receipts, GPS-tracked distances, verified cargo weights, metered energy consumption. This is the most accurate type of data for emissions calculations.

Think of it as: Checking your actual bank statement to see exactly what you spent last month.

Industry averages used when primary data isn’t available — standard figures published for a vehicle type, route, or region. Faster to use, but less precise. The GLEC Framework’s default datasets are set deliberately high (slightly above typical real performance) to prevent under-reporting.

Think of it as: Estimating your spending based on what a typical household in your city spends each month — useful, but not specific to you.

A 1-to-4 rating that tells people how trustworthy your emissions figures are:

CSRD assurance reviewers expect companies to move toward Tier 1–2 over time. Therefore, Tier 4 may not survive reasonable assurance review.

Think of it as: A credit score for your data. The higher the tier, the more confident others can be that your numbers are real.

The complete carbon story of a fuel — from extraction to burning. It adds together everything that happened before the fuel reached the tank (Well-to-Tank) and everything that happened when the engine burned it (Tank-to-Wheel). ISO 14083 requires WTW for all calculations.

Think of it as: Counting every calorie in a meal — from the farm that grew the food, to the factory that processed it, to the kitchen where you cooked it, to actually eating it.

The “before the engine” part: all emissions from extracting, refining, and delivering the fuel to the vehicle. For diesel, this includes oil drilling, refinery operations, and fuel distribution. Typically adds 15–25% on top of the tailpipe figure.

Think of it as: The energy used to grow, package, and ship groceries to the supermarket — before you’ve cooked a single meal.

The “engine running” part: emissions from the vehicle actually moving — the exhaust you see coming from the tailpipe. Most people think of this when they picture transport emissions, but it’s only part of the picture.

Think of it as: The puff of smoke from a car’s exhaust as it pulls away from traffic lights.

A reporting rule under CSRD that requires companies to look at sustainability from two directions:

1. Impact materiality — How does your business affect the environment and society?
2. Financial materiality — How do environmental risks (climate change, regulation, resource scarcity) affect your business financially?

Therefore, if either direction is significant, the topic must be disclosed. For most companies that ship goods, logistics emissions are material in both directions.

Think of it as: Looking both ways before crossing the road — once to check what you might step on, once to check what might hit you.

The EU law that makes sustainability reporting mandatory for large companies operating in Europe. Under CSRD, companies must disclose Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions — including freight. Specifically, reports must follow ESRS standards and be checked by an independent reviewer.

An EU Commission initiative, first proposed February 2025, that streamlines four sustainability-related laws at once — CSRD, CSDDD (due diligence), EU Taxonomy, and CBAM — rather than amending each separately. Its goals: narrow which companies fall in scope, and cut the volume of what in-scope companies must report. The 3 July 2026 simplified ESRS is one output of this package; Scope 3 GHG disclosure (including freight) was preserved even as overall reporting datapoints were cut by over 60%. See the European Commission's announcement for the full delegated act.

The European Sustainability Reporting Standard for climate change — the technical rulebook within CSRD that specifies exactly what climate data companies must disclose, including Scope 3 transport emissions, transition plans, and climate risk assessments.

The first level of independent checking of sustainability reports — like an early-stage audit. An external reviewer checks whether the data seems reasonable. Specifically, it is required under CSRD from the first reporting year.

The higher level of verification — equivalent to the rigour of a financial audit. Requires stronger evidence, more detailed data, and traceable records. Consequently, this is where CSRD is heading, which is why traceable freight data matters now.

A standardised “carbon receipt” that a transport operator gives to customers, documenting the emissions for their shipment under the GLEC Framework. Specifically, it states the total CO₂e, the data quality tier used, and the calculation method.

Think of it as: The Nutrition Facts label on a food package — but for the carbon footprint of your delivery.

The Integrating Logistics Emissions and Product Carbon Footprints initiative — a project led by Smart Freight Centre that adds a data sharing layer on top of ISO 14083. While ISO 14083 defines how to calculate emissions, iLEAP defines how that data can travel from one system to another — from a carrier’s platform to a shipper’s sustainability report, or into a product carbon footprint tool.

The total greenhouse gas emissions from a product’s entire lifecycle — from raw material sourcing through production, transport, use, and disposal. Specifically, ISO 14083 provides the transport component that feeds into a PCF calculation.

An EU regulatory initiative (under the Ecodesign Regulation) that will require products sold in the EU to carry a digital record of their environmental impact throughout their lifecycle — including transport emissions. As a result, ISO 14083-compliant freight data is a direct input into DPP declarations.

External links

• GHG Protocol (official site): https://ghgprotocol.org
• ISO 14083 overview page: https://www.iso.org/standard/78864.html
• Smart Freight Centre (GLEC Framework): https://www.smartfreightcentre.org/en/our-programs/emissions-accounting/global-logistics-emissions-council/

This logistics emissions glossary covers the core terms you will encounter in freight carbon reporting. For deeper reading, explore the ISO 14083 guide, the GLEC Framework guide, or our article on how logistics emissions are calculated.