Did you know that an estimated 49,000 companies across Europe need to report on their Greenhouse Gas emissions?
Why? Well, any company that fulfils two of the following criteria must complete the report:
- €40 million in net turnover
- €20 million on the balance sheet
- 250 or more employees
Greenhouse gases are described as gases that trap heat in the earth’s atmosphere. Without them, life on earth as we know it would be unsustainable.
But we, on earth, are contributing to the ever-increasing rise in quantities of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere due to things such as the burning of fossil fuels, agriculture and large-scale deforestation.
Greenhouse Gas Reporting
Greenhouse gas reporting allows businesses to measure, control and report on the total greenhouse gases that they put out in a way to effectively manage and reduce their overall emissions.
It’s important for businesses to do everything they can to work towards the 2050 net-zero target which is simply put, to be in a position where the amount of greenhouse gases we produce and ultimately add is no more than the amount removed from the atmosphere.
Businesses are setting their own targets and goals to reduce their carbon footprint as part of their own corporate social responsibility (CSR) agendas. For fleets, vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE vehicles ie. petrol and diesel) emit greenhouse gases and so monitoring these emissions is a good place for businesses to start. Doing something about it is the next step, hence many fleets across the globe starting with the transition from ICE to EV.
Having reporting for Scope 1,2 and 3 emissions means a business can track progress and monitor usage to make better fleet and business decisions.
The most simple & efficient method available for capturing all of your GHG emissions, regardless of what country your drivers are in. This service is available across the globe to ensure 100% accuracy for managing and reporting on GHG emissions. TMC follow the guiding principles for accounting and reporting on the GHG emissions and aim to use data that is:
- Relevant: Ensures the data collected and reported on appropriately reflects the environmental impacts of your organisation and can be used to serve both internal and external stakeholders to your organisation.
- Quantitative: KPIs need to be measurable. The fuel data can be used against targets to further reduce a particular impact. In this way the effectiveness of environmental policies and management systems can be evaluated and validated.
- Accuracy: By accessing fuel data, we seek to reduce uncertainties in your reported figures wherever possible to do so. This will achieve sufficient accuracy to enable users to have confidence as to the integrity of the reported information.
- Completeness: By providing this service globally, we can quantify and report on all sources of GHG emissions across your fleet, regardless of where they operate but ensuring that any exclusions are disclosed and justified.
- Consistent: Use consistent processes to gather the data and calculation methodologies to allow for meaningful comparisons of environmental impact data over time.
- Comparable: Companies should report data using accepted and standardised emissions factors rather than organisations using their own. That said, with Scope reporting we have the ability to adjust by company and by country if required.
- Transparent: This is essential to producing a credible report. Address all relevant issues in a factual and coherent manner, keeping a record of all assumptions, calculations, and methodologies used.
How we do it
Taking into account the guidelines above, for a company to accurately report on GHG emissions they should use the most accurate level of data available, only relying on other methods if this data is not available. As standard, TMC will always look for actual volume of fuel used as the most accurate method of reporting on GHG emissions. Our applied methodology is universally approved and widely regarded as the most GDPR friendly process for collecting GHG emissions data.
A typical European country could have between 15 and 20 fuel card providers, globally it could be 50 or more. But, and it is a big but, while it might well be a complex process to connect with all these suppliers, it is easier to roll out than mileage based solutions, and it is more accurate.
TMC’s approach wins every time because:
- Fuel and energy actual usage data is the number one, most accurate method for calculating GHG emissions
- Simplified data collection process. We use data tracking systems to ensure the data flows into our database and using proprietary validation techniques, we quickly pick up and identify missing data which can then be resolved efficiently
- Fully automated process, no need for any time or resource to be deployed by the customer. They need only sit back and wait for the reports to be generated
- No driver actions required. All fuel data is collected directly from the fuel card provider any bypasses the driver completely
- Centralised reporting platform. All fuel data is processed through the TMC Data Factory to aggregate and consolidate into one standard reporting format
- Produces vital results for Sustainability teams that have a huge responsibility. Using TMC, our process ensures high quality data flows to the end user
No actual fuel data?
In the event that it is not possible to access fuel data, or you do not use a fuel card, the next most accurate method is mileage based reporting.
TMC have been leading the way with mileage reporting ever since our inception over 20 years ago. Utilising the very latest technology via an app based solution to capture mileage data, we can use mileage data to calculate the GHG emissions based on the published CO2 emissions from the manufacturer.
The mileage based reporting is a good alternative because:
- Drivers have an easy-to-use app that they just simply enter their mileage data in to just once a month, less than a minute a month
- TMC tracks the driver compliance and has a series of escalation steps to keep the mileage reports updated each month
- No customer engagement. Once set up the process is fully automated and there is no need for any time or resource to be deployed by the customer. All they need to do is sit back and wait for the reports to be generated
- Centralised reporting platform. All mileage data is recorded and used to calculate GHG emissions
- Accurate GHG emissions reporting, vital for Sustainability teams that have a huge responsibility. Using TMC, our process ensures high quality data flows to the end user
There will always be some parts of the world where neither fuel data or mileage data is accessible and in these instances we will agree an assumptions based approach according to guidelines laid down by your Sustainability team.
What are Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions?
So how can TMC help with Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions?
Scope 1: Accurate reporting around fuel & carbon output for business mileage
Scope 2: True cost reporting around electricity used to charge electric vehicles within your fleet
Scope 3: Mobility iQ can look at all modalities when it comes to travel
Having sight of scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions is very helpful in the quest to meet your sustainability goals and reduce your carbon output.
