Freight is rarely measured at your own meter: the truck, ship or aircraft usually belongs to a carrier, and the warehouse to a service provider. For a shipper, these emissions fall under Scope 3. For a carrier, they fall under Scope 1, and its customers ask for the detail by shipment.

The Smart Freight Centre's GLEC Framework and the ISO 14083:2023 standard provide the common method. This article links them to the GHG Protocol (Scope 3 categories 4 and 9, Scope 1 for owned fleets), sets out the tonne-kilometre × emission intensity formula, walks through a fictional worked example and explains the EU CountEmissionsEU regulation.

GHG Protocol definitions come from its own documents; regulatory points come from the text of Regulation (EU) 2026/1030. Sources consulted on 7 October 2026.

What is the GLEC Framework?

The GLEC Framework is the method for calculating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from logistics published by the Smart Freight Centre, an organisation based in Amsterdam. The Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) is a group of companies, associations and programmes led by the Smart Freight Centre, active since 2014.

In October 2019, the GHG Protocol presented it as a guide for shippers, carriers and logistics service providers, to be used alongside its Corporate Standard. It covers road, rail, air, sea, inland waterways and transhipment centres. Like the PCAF standard for category 15, it is a sector method to be used with the GHG Protocol. Check the current version on the Smart Freight Centre website and cite it in your documentation.

How does the GLEC Framework relate to ISO 14083:2023?

ISO 14083:2023 is titled "Greenhouse gases: Quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions arising from transport chain operations". The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) published the European version, EN ISO 14083:2023, in April 2023.

The EU regulation, which adopts the standard, breaks a journey into a transport chain. Each element is a section carried by a single vehicle, or a passage through a single hub (for example a warehouse, port or terminal). Each element has its own calculation, on a well-to-wheel (WTW) basis, and emissions accumulate along the chain.

The standard sets the calculation rule; the GLEC Framework is the Smart Freight Centre's sector guide. The regulation adopts EN ISO 14083:2023 as the common methodology and does not mention GLEC: how each GLEC version aligns with the standard is described in the Smart Freight Centre's documentation.

Where do freight emissions belong in the GHG Protocol?

The Scope 3 Standard allocates transport according to who owns the vehicle and who pays for the service:

  • Vehicles owned or controlled by the company: fuel burned is Scope 1, electricity is Scope 2.
  • Upstream fuel for that fleet (extraction, refining, delivery): category 3.
  • Vehicles leased and operated by the company, not already in Scope 1 or 2: category 8.
  • Purchased transportation and distribution services: category 4. It covers inbound logistics, outbound logistics, third-party transport between the company's own sites and warehouse storage of purchased products.
  • Transport of sold products to the end consumer, not paid for by the company: category 9, including storage and retail.
  • Transport upstream of tier 1 suppliers: category 1, already included in their cradle-to-gate emissions.

Outbound transport that the company pays for is a purchased service: category 4, not 9. On the carrier side, its Scope 1 and 2 emissions are allocated to its customers, where they become Scope 3 category 4. The fifteen categories are detailed in our Scope 3 guide and our article on Scopes 1, 2 and 3.

How do you calculate the emissions of a freight shipment?

The GHG Protocol lists three methods: fuel-based (the most accurate for CO2, suited to dedicated vehicles), distance-based (mass, distance and mode of each shipment) and spend-based (the least accurate, a last resort). Tonne-kilometre calculation is a distance-based method:

Emissions (kg CO2e) = mass carried (t) × distance (km) × emission intensity (kg CO2e per t-km)

A tonne-kilometre (t-km) is one tonne carried over one kilometre. For a hub, the basis is mass handled: emissions = mass (t) × hub intensity (kg CO2e per tonne). The EU regulation uses the same units for output data: the total CO2e of the service, plus at least one common metric, per t-km for transport or per tonne for a hub.

Primary data, measured at the carrier, come first. Failing that, default values from a published database remain usable, with less precision. Document each emission factor and its uncertainty.

What is the difference between WTW, TTW and WTT?

  • TTW (tank-to-wheel): emissions from burning the fuel in the vehicle.
  • WTT (well-to-tank): emissions from extracting, refining and delivering the fuel, or generating the electricity.
  • WTW (well-to-wheel): WTT + TTW.

The EU regulation, which adopts ISO 14083, calculates on a WTW basis. The GHG Protocol also recommends life cycle emission factors for transport in Scope 3. The Scope 1 of an owned fleet counts combustion only; the upstream share is calculated in category 3, as the life cycle factor minus the combustion factor. Scope 1 (TTW) plus category 3 (WTT) gives back the WTW.

Fictional worked example: one shipment by road, sea and warehouse

Alpha Industrie, a fictional company, ships 18 tonnes of parts to a customer overseas. Every factor below is an illustrative value, taken neither from the GLEC Framework nor from any official database. Do not reuse them in an inventory.

  • Road, factory to departure port: 18 t × 700 km = 12,600 t-km × 0.080 kg CO2e/t-km = 1,008.0 kg.
  • Hub, departure port: 18 t × 2.0 kg CO2e/t = 36.0 kg.
  • Sea: 18 t × 6,000 km = 108,000 t-km × 0.016 kg CO2e/t-km = 1,728.0 kg.
  • Hub, arrival port: 18 t × 2.0 kg CO2e/t = 36.0 kg.
  • Road, arrival port to distribution centre: 18 t × 300 km = 5,400 t-km × 0.090 kg CO2e/t-km = 486.0 kg.
  • Hub, distribution centre cross-dock: 18 t × 4.0 kg CO2e/t = 72.0 kg.

Total: 3,366.0 kg CO2e, or 3.366 t CO2e. Sea accounts for 51.3%, the two road legs for 44.4% and the three hubs for 4.3%. Over 126,000 t-km, the shipment's intensity is 0.0267 kg CO2e/t-km, or 187 kg CO2e per tonne shipped.

The WTW effect. Suppose the road factor of 0.080 splits into 0.062 TTW and 0.018 WTT (illustrative values). First leg: 12,600 × 0.062 = 781.2 kg TTW and 12,600 × 0.018 = 226.8 kg WTT. Counting only TTW would understate this leg by 22.5%.

Where it goes. If Alpha Industrie pays for the whole chain, the 3.366 t go to category 4; if the customer pays, to category 9. If the first leg were run by its own trucks, 781.2 kg would go to Scope 1 and 226.8 kg to category 3, still 1,008.0 kg in total.

What does the CountEmissionsEU regulation change?

CountEmissionsEU is Regulation (EU) 2026/1030 of 29 April 2026 on the greenhouse gas emissions accounting of transport services, published in the Official Journal on 12 May 2026. Its text sets out:

  • Timeline: in force on 1 June 2026, applicable from 2 December 2030, except a few provisions that apply from entry into force.
  • Scope: services starting or ending on Union territory, where emissions per service are calculated and disclosed on a contractual or voluntary basis, or where the law requires it. It does not require every company to calculate.
  • Method: EN ISO 14083:2023, on a WTW basis, with priority to primary data.
  • Default values: a Union database, to be set up by 2 December 2029; third-party databases will have to pass a technical quality check, mandatory from 3 December 2031.
  • Verification: entities that calculate, except SMEs, have their data verified by a conformity assessment body.

The text of the regulation prevails for the exact obligations.

CSRD and ESRS: where does freight appear?

The simplified ESRS (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1563 of 3 July 2026) require gross Scope 3 emissions to be presented with the GHG Protocol taken into account: the company screens the fifteen categories, then discloses its significant ones. They enter into force on 10 November 2026 and apply to financial years starting on or after 1 January 2027. For a shipper, categories 4 and 9 are among them once transport weighs on the footprint (see the ESRS E1 standard).

According to its recitals, the transport regulation does not apply to aggregated calculations, such as a sustainability report. Per-service data can nonetheless feed one, if the methods are compatible.

Common mistakes

  • Mixing TTW and WTW in the same inventory.
  • Booking paid outbound transport in category 9 instead of category 4.
  • Forgetting hubs: storage falls under categories 4 and 9.
  • Leaving the distance rule undocumented: two calculations of the same route diverge.

How Kabaun supports freight calculation

Kabaun natively supports the GLEC framework for transport and logistics, with automatic adaptation of factors and templates. The GLEC database is one of the eight public databases in the factor library. Connectors collect data from external sources, including logistics systems, and AI recommendations propose actions quantified in CO2e and cost. See the logistics sector page. The exact GLEC scope supported is best clarified in a demo.

FAQ: frequently asked questions about the GLEC Framework

What is the GLEC Framework?

It is the method for calculating logistics GHG emissions published by the Smart Freight Centre. It covers road, rail, air, sea, inland waterways and transhipment centres, and is used with the GHG Protocol. The Global Logistics Emissions Council behind it has existed since 2014. Check the current version before any calculation.

What is the difference between the GLEC Framework and ISO 14083?

ISO 14083:2023 is the standard that sets the calculation rule for transport chain emissions. The GLEC Framework is the Smart Freight Centre's sector guide. EU Regulation 2026/1030 adopts EN ISO 14083:2023 as the common methodology. How each GLEC version aligns should be checked with the Smart Freight Centre.

Which Scope 3 category covers freight transport?

Transport purchased by the company, inbound or outbound, falls under category 4. Transport of sold products to the end consumer, not paid for by the company, falls under category 9. Trucks that the company owns or controls fall under Scope 1, and their upstream fuel under category 3.

How do you calculate the emissions of a freight shipment?

Multiply the mass in tonnes by the distance in kilometres, then by the emission intensity in kg CO2e per t-km. Each hub is added separately: mass handled times its intensity per tonne. The calculation is on a WTW basis, and the carrier's primary data come first.

Is CountEmissionsEU mandatory?

Regulation (EU) 2026/1030 has been in force since 1 June 2026 and applies from 2 December 2030. It does not make calculation mandatory for every company: it applies when emissions per transport service are calculated and disclosed on a contractual or voluntary basis, or when the law requires it.

What do WTW, TTW and WTT mean?

TTW (tank-to-wheel) covers combustion emissions in the vehicle. WTT (well-to-tank) covers production and delivery of the fuel or electricity. WTW (well-to-wheel) is the sum of both. The EU regulation calculates on a WTW basis, and the GHG Protocol recommends life cycle factors in Scope 3.

Conclusion

Freight emissions are calculated by multiplying mass, distance and intensity for each leg, adding every hub, on a WTW basis. They go to Scope 1 for owned vehicles, category 4 for purchased transport and category 9 for transport the customer pays. CountEmissionsEU, in force since 1 June 2026 and applicable from December 2030, rests on ISO 14083.

To do this week: list your carriers and hubs, record for each the masses, distances and the nature of the intensity used (primary or default), then check that everything is expressed on a WTW basis.

Kabaun supports transport and logistics companies with their carbon footprint → www.kabaun.com/en/contact

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