The need for rigorous action to slow down climate change again became abundantly clear in 2023, whether as a result of the growing evidence of the negative impacts of climate change on people and the environment or stricter political and economic imperatives. As a logistics service provider, it is also incumbent on us to make a contribution to decarbonizing our industry, supply chains and the economy as a whole. We therefore want our ambitions to reach even higher. Always in our sights: our customers, whose carbon footprint is also positively impacted by our successes.
In this Sustainability Report, we describe for the fourth consecutive year our progress toward achieving our target to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions: By 2030, we will reduce our absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by at least 30 percent and our Scope 3 emissions by at least 15 percent, in each case compared against the figures for the 2018 baseline. This target has been validated by the corresponding reduction in greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere in the amount of our remaining Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions that despite our best efforts we cannot avoid entirely. In this way we will be net carbon neutral by 2030. The aggregate of these targets and objectives is our “Mission Climate.” In this context, we would like to take a closer look at the term “climate neutrality” and, in the interests of transparency, point out that we will only achieve the status of a net carbon-neutral company by providing financial support for certified climate protection projects. As things currently stand, and particularly given that the target year of 2030 is not very far off, achieving net zero emissions is not realistic – we come to this conclusion primarily because the costs for using alternative drive systems in the transportation sector are still extremely high, combined with a lack of charging infrastructure and the largely absent funding landscape. The projects we support should therefore help from a global point of view to reduce those greenhouse gas emissions that we will not be able to avoid entirely by 2030. At the same time, we are aware of the difficulty of the term “climate neutrality.” The last thing we want to do is trivialize the challenges that the necessary transition to a lower-emission economy entails, which is why we are currently reviewing how we use this and similar terms as part of the process of increasing the ambition of our absolute climate target.
Our Climate Targets at a Glance
Climate target within the company
Absolute CO2 reduction in the supply chain
Three levers for climate protection
We use three main levers to achieve the planned reductions in emissions: continuously increasing our energy efficiency, producing our own renewable electricity and purchasing green electricity. In this, we follow the avoid – reduce – offset approach. We are therefore placing a special focus on increasing efficiency with the aim of using energy in such a way that can achieve more output for the same input. For more information on how we do this, see the Energy Management section.
Regarding the second lever, the fourth and, at around 9 MWp, largest and most powerful photovoltaic system (PV system) at our locations to date was connected to the grid in the reporting year: Since October 2023 it has been generating green energy on the roof of the newly built C3 Bremen logistics center which exceeds the consumption of our location. Although the fourth quarter had fewer sunny days than usual, the system supplied almost half a million kWh of electricity during this period – 100,000 kWh of which we used at the site. Together with the three other systems already in operation in Kelheim and Waiblingen, a total of around 450 MWh of our electricity requirements were generated directly at the sites. This corresponds to a CO2e saving of 147 metric tons in the reporting year. We will continue to systematically pursue the use of solar power from our roofs.
However, despite this, even in the future we will not realistically be able to cover all of our electricity needs at our locations with local PV systems. So as to nevertheless guarantee the supply of our facilities with 100 percent green electricity, we have set ourselves a clear goal: From 2025, we will procure 100 percent of our third-party electricity from renewable sources (see also the overview of our ESG targets).
Our absolute emission reductions also have a positive impact on our customers’ carbon footprint, as our emissions are recognized in their Scope 3 emissions. Furthermore, when working with us, our customers can opt for net carbon-neutral services. At their request, we can record the emissions generated for the respective customer and offset them in the corresponding amount through a Gold Standard climate protection project.
Documentation of our greenhouse gas emissions
If we want to reduce our CO2 emissions in a targeted manner, we need to know where and how much energy is being consumed and corresponding greenhouse gases are being produced. We collect, validate and evaluate energy consumption data decentrally, directly at our locations. Our central Sustainability department uses this data to calculate the emissions generated. We currently take into account the consumption at the German sites of our fully consolidated companies as well as 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 included in our extended reporting (Scope 3).
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 (details in the Glossary).
Absolute greenhouse gas emissions
(in tCO2e) broken down into direct and indirect emissions
For the CO2e calculation of gasoline and diesel vehicles, we use well-to-wheels emission factors (WTW) from the Global Logistics Emissions 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) for the International Institute for Sustainability Analysis and Strategies (IINAS). We regularly adjust the factors in line with the adjustments in the respective source, 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.
In the reporting year, we made two major adjustments to our greenhouse gas accounting. In order to ensure a more precise and comprehensive sustainability assessment along the entire value chain, we switched the calculation of our Scope 3 emissions completely and retroactively to WTW emissions. To take account of the deconsolidation of the company BLG Logistics Automobile SPb, our business activities in Russia, including emissions generated there, were derecognized – also retrospectively – in accordance with the requirements of the GHG Protocol.
Own emissions: further reductions
In order to achieve our climate target, 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 reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 18.4 percent in 2023 compared with 2018. We thus clearly surpassed our minus 12.5 percent target for the reporting year and remain well on track toward our Mission Climate.
Absolute greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 + 2)
from 2018 to 2023 and target until 2030 (tCO2e)
Accounting for a good 93 percent, our German sites were responsible for the majority of our global emissions, with around seven percent attributable to our foreign locations.
Emissions in the supply chain: progress in many areas
When defining our climate targets in relation to Scope 3 emissions in line with the SBTi requirements, we identified those from each of the 15 categories of 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 are the biggest emitter within Scope 3, followed by upstream transports. Taken together, they 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 third-party transportation services by truck and rail. To calculate the emissions from truck transportation, we already in some cases use software that is accredited in accordance with international greenhouse gas accounting standards. Where feasible, this links transport order data with telematics data from our own trucks or those of our subcontractors to ensure that the calculation of emissions is as far as possible based on primary data. We were able to significantly expand the areas of application of the software in the reporting year and are currently examining ways to use it even more widely in the future. Since 2023, we have been deploying extended semitrailers, which can transport up to ten percent more goods than conventional semitrailers. This reduces the number of journeys, which in turn means lower emissions. We currently have 38 longer trucks on the road and – where technical conditions allow – will continue to increase their number.
Percentage share of Scope 3 emissions 2023
broken down by categories consideres
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.
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 as accurately as possible, we again carried out our annual survey. This gives employees an opportunity to communicate topics that concern them, many of which we have followed up on. The site inspections carried out in the past reporting year to assess the possibilities for installing charging infrastructure for employees have already led to decisions, with installation of the respective charging points planned for the first half of 2024. The system for employees to use the charging points has already been successfully trialed at C3 in Bremen for over six months and is to be rolled out in identical form at the other locations.
Currently, we are also working on offering our employees a carpooling service within the BLG app, which will go live in the course of 2024. It is hoped this will encourage employees Germany-wide to create carpools. One key lever for reducing emissions from our company cars is electromobility. We are also investing in this area and have increased the proportion of all-electric vehicles in our company car fleet and centrally managed carpool by 63 percent compared to the previous year. We have also examined the framework conditions for implementing a mobility budget that enables the flexible use of services such as car sharing, public transport and long-distance travel as alternatives to company cars. In a next step we will examine how such a model can be integrated into existing processes.
Compared to the previous year, we again saw a significant reduction in Scope 3 emissions. For 2023, at minus 27.4 percent compared with the baseline, they were once again markedly below the 2030 target. It is especially worth highlighting the emissions reductions at our EUROGATE subsidiary, which in particular reflected a sharp drop in the consumption of diesel and electricity. For more information see the separate non-financial statement of EUROGATE.
Across all three scopes, we generated 180,359 t CO2e in 2023, which is an overall saving of 5.9 percent year on year. In the reporting year, we again comfortably exceeded our annual target for both our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, as well as those that fall within Scope 3 We describe the measures that have specifically contributed to lowering our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions in the Energy Management section.
Absolute greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 3)
from 2018 to 2030 and target until 2030 (tCO2e)
Encouraged by the sustained positive development over recent years as described above and given the ecological, social and economic need to act consistently, we decided again in 2023 to significantly increase the ambition of our climate targets: We are currently looking to bring our greenhouse gas emissions reduction target into line with the 1.5°C target called for in the Paris Climate Agreement. This will then be resubmitted to the SBTi for review. We have already included this new ambition in the overview of our ESG targets.
Support for international climate protection projects
In pursuing our climate targets, we follow the clear avoid – reduce – offset approach. Nevertheless, financing climate protection projects is fundamental to achieving a balance between carbon emissions and compensation or removal – because currently it is not possible to eliminate all emissions completely. Since 2020, we have been calculating the emissions from our company car fleet and our air travel and supporting selected climate protection projects that lead to a corresponding reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. These projects are exclusively certified and audited in accordance with the Gold Standard. In 2023, we retired carbon credits totaling 1,383 t CO2e from a project to provide solar cookers in the Chinese province of Henan.