Greenhouse gas balancing of transport services according to DIN EN 16258

What is the purpose of GHG balancing of transport services according to DIN EN 16258?

The European standard DIN 16258 is a framework for companies in the logistics sector to record, assess and transparently communicate energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions for any transport service (goods and/or passengers) using a uniform standard. This gives companies a better overview of the impact of their activities on the climate and makes it easier to identify potential for reducing their greenhouse gases.

Since October 2013, France has been obliging transport service providers to disclose the CO2 values of commercially performed passenger and freight transports to the customer at the point of origin or destination with its decree no. 2011-1336.

Why should you balance the greenhouse gas emissions of your transport services?

  • You optimise the climate performance of your company and your services
  • You receive an overview of potential weak points and valuable information on how to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Your certificate is internationally recognised, as our verification procedure is ISO 14064-3 accredited.
  • We support you in finding suitable offset projects
  • You will receive a certificate and a test mark that you can use for your communications

DIN EN 16258 is aimed at all companies and individuals in the logistics sector with the potential to reduce energy and raw material costs, such as transport companies, transport service providers or users of transport services such as clients and passengers.

Die DIN EN 16258 definiert die Anforderungen an Berechnung und Deklaration von Energieverbräuchen und Treibhausgasemissionen für alle gängigen Transportarten, unabhängig davon, ob es sich um eigene Transportleistungen oder Transporte von Subunternehmern handelt.

Ermittelt werden die Treibstoffverbräuche der Transportleistungen. Aus diesen werden nach Standardfaktoren in der Norm ja nach Transportart die CO2-Emissionen berechnet. Dabei wird zwischen direkten und indirekten Emissionen unterschieden:

  • Tank-to-Wheel records the direct emissions that occur during vehicle operation (fuel consumption and coolant losses).
  • Well-to-Tank, in addition to the emissions from combustion, includes the greenhouse gas emissions generated during the production of fuels or electricity.

The standard also provides guidance on the choice of system boundaries, allocation and calculation methods and emission factors. However, it does not contain specifications for the inclusion of emissions from warehouses, offices, other handling facilities, stationary cooling facilities or emissions for the manufacture and maintenance of vehicles and transport infrastructure.

Why choose GUTcert for the verification of your greenhouse gas emissions from transport services?

All globally valid accreditation rules are included in our DAkkS-accredited certification system. This ensures international recognition of your certification. In addition, you benefit from the following advantages:

  • In a GUTcert audit, you receive valuable input beyond the mere confirmation of conformity, because our auditors have great expertise in their field and comprehensive industry knowledge.
  • Do you operate globally? So do we: in association with our parent company, the AFNOR Group, we can carry out large-scale international projects in a centralised manner with over 1,800 auditors worldwide.

Outlook ISO 14083

The international standard ISO 14083 entitled "Greenhouse gas emissions from transport operations (goods and passengers)" is currently being developed: Important especially in view of the fact that DIN EN 16258 has not been updated since 2013.

What does carbon footprint verification for transport services cost?

We calculate the effort for a verification of greenhouse gas balances from transport services individually depending on the complexity of the balancing, company size, data procurement effort and product portfolio.

Check which requirements already exist to integrate your 'climate reporting' into an existing system, e.g. ISO 9001, ISO14001, ISO 50001 or EMAS: Much of the required data may already have been collected as part of an energy management system.