Evaluating the environmental sustainability of an intermodal freight logistic chain using the GLEC Framework

Fancello G.;Vitiello D. M.;Serra P.

2023-01-01

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Abstract

In the last years, evaluation of environmental sustainability of supply chains has become central in policies aimed at reducing polluting gas emissions (see, for ex-ample, Kyoto protocol, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris, Green Deal: Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy). The transport sector is one of the principal causes of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The sector consumes 25% of total final energy consumption and is re-sponsible for nearly 40% of the emissions from end‐use sectors. In 2021, global CO2 emissions from the sector was about 7.7 Gt CO2, of which 5.9 Gt CO2 from road vehicles. In the European Union the transport sector accounts for 20% of anthropogenic GHG emissions. The main objective of the European Commission is to cut emissions by 90% within 2050. In March 2023, the International Stand-ard Organization (ISO) released the ISO 14083 standard that provides require-ments and guidance for the quantification and reporting of GHG emissions along the entire transport chains for passengers and freight. It is aligned with the ISO families 14060 and 14060. The ISO 14083 is in line, among the others, with the Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) Framework for Logistics Emissions Accounting and Reporting. This paper will focus its attention on a land-sea intermodal freight logistic chain, with an application to a real case study. In accordance with the ISO 14083 standard, the GLEC Framework, proposed by the Smart Freight Centre, will be used to calculate the energy consumption and the GHG emissions caused by supply chains.