Emission calculations
Reasons for making 2023 the new base year (replacing 2021) The base year for the CO 2 inventory (CO 2 accounting) was previously 2021. Because of the switch to the GHG Protocol and the calculation based for the first time on new standards, 2023 will apply as the base year with effect from this report. It will also be possible to record Scope 3 emissions along the value chain in the future. Another advantage: the expansion of the CO 2 inventory by official Scope 3 categories. For example, freight purchasing in the area of Air & Sea has been added to category 4, while category 7, employee commuting, has been recorded for the first time. Sources of emission factors Emission factors are key figures that are used to calculate the volume of emissions associated with the consumption of cer- tain resources. They allow emissions from a truck’s consump- tion of diesel to be determined, for example. The sources that are used for the emission factors when calculating the CO 2 inventory include: ― Umweltbundesamt Österreich / Environment Agency Austria (www.umweltbundesamt.at/en) ― Umweltbundesamt Deutschland / German Federal Environmental Agency (www.umweltbundesamt.de/en) ― EcoTransIT (www.ecotransit.org/en) ― Öko-Institut Deutschland (www.oeko.de/en)
Source GWP (Global Warming Potential) In addition to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), the transport of goods also produces other greenhouse gases such as methane (CH 2 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O). Global warming potential (GWP) is a key figure that indicates how much other green - house gases contribute to global warming in comparison with CO 2 . Using the key figure of GWP, different greenhouse gases can be converted into CO 2 equivalents in order to record emis- sions in a uniform way. The calculation of the greenhouse gases from the transport industry is also done automatically using the EcoTransIT software. Consolidation approach (financial control) The data and figures from all fully consolidated Gebrüder Weiss locations and subsidiary companies in which Gebrüder Weiss holds a majority interest or over which Gebrüder Weiss exerts financial control are included in our reporting.
Emission calculations Gebrüder Weiss follows the guidelines on the GHG Protocol when calculating its emissions. We record the emissions of our buildings and those of our transport services using Line- Metrics, Plexlog and EcoTransIT. The extensive volumes of data, especially for calculating Scope 3 emissions, are processed using modern big data methods. These allow the constantly expanding technical possibilities and standards to be integrated. The complete- ness, accuracy and consistency of the data is continuously improved by regularly optimizing and refining both the data basis and the calculation tools that are used. The relevant process owners in the branches and at the Gebrüder Weiss head office are responsible for transferring the data to the CO 2 inventory tool and verifying their plausibility. Two different methods can be used to calculate the emissions from the volume of purchased electricity. The location-based method calculates emissions on the basis of the average emission factor of the electricity grid to which the corporate lo- cation is connected. The market-based method takes account of individual contractual agreements in electricity purchases, such as green electricity certificates, and shows how high the emissions of the electricity actually purchased are. Gebrüder Weiss uses the market-based method for its calculation. The following Scope 1, 2 and 3 calculations take account of the global warming potential (GWP) of the various greenhouse gases by using emission factors.
Environment
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