Scope 3 "shipped goods" vs. GLEC logistics emissions

GHG Protocol and GLEC are two methodologies for measuring the same thing: transport emissions. The difference lies in precision and the data you use.

What each one is

	GHG Protocol (Shipped Goods)	GLEC
Who uses it	Any company for its corporate footprint	Logistics companies (specialist)
Approach	General, valid for all types of company	Specific to transport and warehouses
Calculation methods	Several (from simplest to most precise)	One only, very detailed

GHG Protocol methods

GHG Protocol offers 4 levels of precision for transport:

Less precise                                          More precise
     │                                                      │
     ▼                                                      ▼
┌─────────┐   ┌─────────┐   ┌──────────┐   ┌──────────────┐
│ Method  │   │ Method  │   │  Method  │   │   Method     │
│Spend (€)│   │ Weight  │   │ Distance │   │    GLEC      │
│         │   │         │   │          │   │(tkm+vehicle) │
└─────────┘   └─────────┘   └──────────┘   └──────────────┘

Comparison with an example

Situation: You ship 10 tonnes from Madrid to Barcelona.

GHG method	Data used	Calculation	Result
Spend (€)	Paid €2,000	€2,000 × sector factor	~800 kg CO₂e
Weight	10 tonnes + estimated distance	10 t × generic factor	~500 kg CO₂e
Distance	10 t × 620 km	6,200 tkm × average factor	~310 kg CO₂e
GLEC	10 t × 590 km × articulated truck up to 40 t diesel	5,900 tkm × 0.062	~365 kg CO₂e

Why such different results? Because each method uses different assumptions.

Key differences

Aspect	GHG (basic methods)	GLEC
Vehicle type	No distinction (uses average)	Distinguishes truck type, ship, plane, train…
Distance adjustment	Not applied	Yes (5% road, 15% maritime…)
Actual fuel	Not considered	Yes, for own fleet
Hubs / warehouses	Not included	Included
Subcontractors	Generic factor	Specific factor by vehicle type
Fuel cycle	Sometimes TTW only	Always WTW (complete)

When to use each one

Situation	Recommended method
You are any company and want to include transport in your footprint	GHG (distance or spend method)
You are a logistics company	GLEC (required for CSRD)
Your customers request emissions data for their shipments	GLEC
You only need a number for your annual report	Basic GHG
You want to identify where to reduce emissions	GLEC
You do not have route or vehicle data	GHG (spend or weight)

The problem with the distance method for parcel delivery

If you use the DEFRA distance method, you calculate emissions for the full vehicle. But then the question arises: how do you split those emissions across packages?

Example: Route of 950 km with 3,000 packages and 6,420 kg total load.

Step 1: Calculate full truck emissions → 950 km × 0.98435 = 935.13 kg CO₂e
Step 2: Split across packages. You have three options:

Option A — By number of packages:

935.13 / 3,000 packages = 0.312 kg CO₂e/package

Unfair: a 100 g package pays the same as a 30 kg one.

Option B — By weight:

Package 0.83 kg: 935.13 × (0.83 / 6,420) = 0.121 kg CO₂e

Fairer, but you need to know the total truck load.

Option C — By weight × distance (tkm): If you do this… you have just reinvented GLEC.

The distance method is useful for reporting emissions at fleet or route level. For assigning emissions to individual packages fairly, you need tkm (GLEC) without exception.

Are GHG Protocol and GLEC compatible?

Yes. In fact, GLEC is the most precise method within GHG Protocol for the transport category:

GHG Protocol Scope 3
        │
        ├── Category 4: Upstream transport
        │       └── You can use → GLEC ✓
        │
        └── Category 9: Downstream transport
                └── You can use → GLEC ✓

If you use GLEC, you automatically comply with GHG Protocol — but with greater precision.

Why GLEC is more precise: the full fuel cycle

GLEC always calculates in WTW (Well-to-Wheel) mode, which includes:

Component	What it means
TTW (Tank-to-Wheel)	The CO₂ from the exhaust pipe
WTT (Well-to-Tank)	The CO₂ from producing and transporting fuel to the pump
WTW (Well-to-Wheel)	TTW + WTT = the complete picture

GLEC also distinguishes by:

Vehicle type (refrigerated truck vs. van)
Geographic region (Spain and Germany have different factors)
Whether the vehicle is owned or subcontracted

Summary

GHG gives you an approximate number with little data. GLEC gives you the real number — but needs more information.