Our absolute emission reductions also have a positive impact on our customers’ carbon footprint, as our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions are reflected in their Scope 3 emissions. Thus, they not only benefit with us from the aforementioned reduction measures, but can additionally opt for climate-neutral services. From the reporting year, at our customers’ request we calculate the greenhouse gas emissions for the contracted service and offset them through a Gold Standard climate protection project.

Calculating greenhouse gas emissions

To be able to cut our CO₂ emissions, it is crucial to know where and in what quantities we use energy and consequently generate greenhouse gas emissions. We collect, validate and evaluate energy consumption data decentrally, directly at our locations. In the next step, our central Sustainability department calculates the emissions generated. We currently take into account the consumption of the German sites of our fully consolidated companies and around 95 percent of the energy consumption of the associated sites outside Germany. In our AUTOMOBILE and CONTRACT Divisions, we use our own diesel trucks. Their consumption is included in our energy and greenhouse gas accounting. Especially in the freight forwarding and car transport business areas, we also draw on the services of subcontractors, which are integrated into our extended reporting (Scope 3).

Absolute greenhouse gas emissions (in t CO₂e)

broken down into direct and indirect emissions

For our greenhouse gas accounting, we are guided by the principles of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol), and present direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions separately. We distinguish between Scope 1 (direct emissions from the combustion of natural gas, heating oil, diesel and gasoline), Scope 2 (indirect emissions from electricity and district heat generation) and Scope 3 (other indirect emissions). We have been calculating our CO₂ equivalents (CO₂e) since 2011. This includes not only carbon dioxide, but also other gases with high greenhouse gas potential (see Glossary for details). For the CO₂e calculation of gasoline and diesel vehicles, we use well-to-wheels emission factors (WTW) from the DIN EN 16258 standard and the Global Logistics Emission Council (GLEC). These include all generated CO₂e emissions, from provision of the energy sources used through to the operating phase, and also take the proportion of biodiesel or ethanol into account. To calculate the further emissions from the primary energy sources including the upstream chain, we use the CO₂e emission factors from the Global Emission Model for Integrated Systems (GEMIS) from the International Institute for Sustainability Analysis and Strategies (IINAS). We regularly adjust the emission factors in line with the adjustments in GEMIS, also retrospectively. The emission factors used for electricity apply on a site-specific basis depending on the energy supply company. The corresponding electricity emission factors for our foreign sites are based on the respective country mix from GEMIS.

Own emissions: still on the right track

Our climate target is based on a clear plan: in order to achieve it, we must reduce our CO₂ emissions by 2.5 percent each year compared with the 2018 baseline. This comparison already shows a substantial reduction. Overall, we had achieved a reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions of 18.1 percent in 2022 compared with 2018. We thus clearly surpassed our minus 10 percent target for the reporting year and remain well on track toward our Mission Climate. Accounting for a good 89 percent, our German sites were responsible for the majority of our global emissions, with around 11 percent attributable to our foreign locations.

However, this overall assessment must also take external influences into account that in particular in the past three years have played a role. For example, the unusually sharp reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2019 to 2020 is in part due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Similarly, as business gradually normalized in the course of 2021, we conversely saw a slight increase in many areas. The renewed significant reduction in 2022 is linked, among other things, to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which meant that we were not able to carry out normal business operations there.

Absolute greenhouse gas emissions (Scopes 1 + 2)

from 2018 to 2022 and target until 2030 (tCO₂e)

Emissions in the supply chain: successfully active on multiple levels

In defining our climate targets, when considering Scope 3 emissions in line with the SBTi requirements we identified those from all 15 categories belonging to the GHG Protocol which, taken together, account for over two-thirds of our emissions. For these, we set a separate sub-target, which was a reduction of 15 percent compared with the baseline by 2030. In this context, we consider upstream transports by our subcontractors, our equity investees, employee mobility, and also monitor the upstream chains of primary energy sources. Our equity investees and upstream transports are the biggest two emitters within Scope 3 and, taken together, account for more than 80 percent of the emissions incurred in this category. In the case of upstream transports, we report on emissions that result from purchased transportation services by truck and rail. Following a successful 100-day project, we have been using software accredited according to international greenhouse gas accounting standards, which automatically calculates the CO₂ emissions of the overland transport operations of our freight forwarding business area. To this end, transport data is, wherever feasible, linked with telematics data from the subcontractors to ensure that the calculation of emissions is as far as possible based on primary data. We are currently examining application in other areas.

When considering investees, we proportionately include the emissions of our EUROGATE joint venture, which make up the absolute majority in this category, plus individual other companies. With respect to the upstream chains of the primary energy sources, we record emissions that result from production and transport of the energy we use.

Percentage share of Scope 3 emissions 2022

broken down by categories considered

Concerning employee mobility, we report on emissions from our employees’ daily commute to and from the workplace, those from business trips using private cars as well as those from our company cars and rental vehicles, and from business flights. To calculate the former, we again carried out our annual company survey. We derived three concerns that are of particular importance to our employees and that accordingly we will focus on in the coming years: good charging infrastructure for electric and hybrid vehicles, better public transport connections to individual locations and opportunities for commuting together, e.g., in the form of car sharing. In the reporting year, we conducted a systematic review of the installation of charging points at our sites, taking local conditions into account. Through our company car policy, we are increasingly promoting the environmentally compatible use of electric and hybrid vehicles by limiting the permissible commuting distance and providing charging infrastructure close to employees’ place of residence. In order to offer our employees an alternative to company cars in the future, we are currently looking at ways to design and implement a mobility budget. This is an additional offering for those entitled to a company car who instead receive a budget that they can use on business or private trips for various modes of transport – including public transport, long-distance trains, car sharing or cabs. Another alternative is the combined use of the mobility budget with choosing a smaller model of company car.

The development of Scope 3 emissions is similar to that of Scopes 1 and 2. Here, too, following the exceptional pandemic-related decline, greenhouse gas emissions initially rose again in 2021. For 2022, we again recorded a significant reduction of 20.7 percent compared with the baseline.

Absolute greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 3)

from 2018 to 2022 and target until 2030 (tCO₂e)

This was due in particular to the lower transport volumes of our subcontractors: in the wake of a general shortage of transport capacities and the accompanying willingness to pay higher prices, some capacities were withdrawn.

This means that we have already reached our intended 2030 target for Scope 3. Taking the current uncertainties and one-time effects into consideration, we will for the time being continue to monitor the development based on the measures taken to ensure a sound basis if a reformulation becomes necessary.