Enabling Carbon Reduction Goals with Transparency in Scope 3 Carbon Emissions

Shippers are making carbon reduction an explicit aspect of the procurement processes for their supply chain. But when it comes to carbon reduction, real progress requires real transparency. 

Better tracking of carbon starts by providing greater transparency on the carbon footprint of services and products. Only by accounting for the full footprint will organizations and their customers be able to calculate their true environmental impact. Scientists account for carbon emissions by classifying them into three categories, or “scopes.”

• Scope 1 emissions are the direct emissions that your business activities create. 
• Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions that come from the production of the electricity, heat, or steam your business uses.
• Scope 3 emissions are the indirect emissions that come from all the other activities in which you’re engaged. For a business, these emission sources can be extensive, and must be accounted for across its entire supply chain. This includes the materials used in construction of its buildings, the commuting of employees, transportation services to deliver products, and the carbon consumed during the life cycle of its products. Given this broad range, a company’s scope 3 emissions can often account for three-quarters of their total emissions¹.  

Many businesses have made meaningful progress reducing their scope 1 and 2 emissions. Scope 3 has been a challenge because there is less ownership and data clarity behind these emissions. However, businesses are able to directly impact their scope 3 emissions by influencing their suppliers or choosing which vendors to contract with based on their practices.

Convoy now has two new ways for businesses to see and take action against their scope 3 carbon emissions.

Convoy’s most important contribution to reducing environmental impact comes from our ability to eliminate carbon emissions by leveraging data and machine learning to deliver innovations that power efficiency through our carrier network. The place where we are starting is visibility. Visibility into carbon emissions and carbon savings, shared with transportation leaders and throughout the organization. 

1. Customized carbon emissions insights in monthly reports

Every shipper working with Convoy receives a monthly business report to see cost savings, time savings, service levels and carrier performance. Included in this report is a section dedicated to Sustainability and the reduction of carbon emissions. Backed by our data and science, Convoy shows the carbon impact of freight moved with our network. In addition to carbon impact, these reports also show carbon emission savings by taking advantage of capabilities such as Automated Reloads, which reduce carbon emissions by up to 45%. 

2. Carbon savings in Carbon Offset equivalents 

Sustainability metrics should be seen across the entire organization. Convoy extends visibility to finance teams by showing carbon savings and the equivalent value in Carbon Offset credits. This additional level of insight helps with continuous improvement in accounting for carbon emissions.

For many customers, sustainability is already a core part of their business, while others are just beginning their work to understand and mitigate their carbon impact. Regardless of where organizations are on their journey, we’re committed to being helpful.

“Chris Pickett, the senior director of logistics at Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis, which uses Convoy, says his company has benefited in the same way. “A few years ago,” he says, “if someone had asked me which of our locations drivers prefer working with over others, we only had our internal data to tell the story. Now we can use Convoy’s driver-centric data and insights to get the answers to those questions and understand how those experiences are causing challenges for all our partners.” Anheuser-Busch has used this data to reduce idle time at pick-up and drop-off locations and to help minimize empty miles, placing the brewer on track to hit its goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 25 percent by 2025.” (Seven Fifty Daily, February 2020)

These carbon emission reports are available to every shipper today. Send an email to netzero@convoy.com if you are interested in learning more about how to see your scope 3 carbon emission reductions.

¹Blanco, C.U., Caro, F., & Corbett, C.J. (2016). The state of supply chain carbon footprinting: analysis of CDP disclosures by US firms.
²Using $4.99 carbon offset costs for ever 1,000 lbs of carbon emissions. https://www.terrapass.com/

About Sustainability at Convoy

Sustainability at Convoy means driving positive environmental and societal impact to be a great corporate citizen. We are focused on reducing the billions of waste in trucking and supporting the communities where we live and work.

Visit www.convoy.com/sustainability to learn about Convoy’s commitment to Sustainability.

This article is published jointly with our partners at Convoy. To view more Future of Freight content, click here.