Freight emissions are the weight of the cargo multiplied by the distance travelled and by an emission factor for the mode — the GLEC Framework method CBAM and customer sustainability reports expect. Sea freight emits about a tenth of air per tonne-kilometre, so mode choice dominates routing.
Shipment details
Frequently asked questions
How are shipping emissions calculated?
Emissions are calculated using the GLEC Framework v3: multiply the cargo weight (tonnes) by the route distance (km) by the emissions factor for the transport mode (sea: 0.016 kg CO2/tkm, air: 0.602, road: 0.096, rail: 0.028). TTW means tank-to-wheel/tank-to-wake transport emissions; WTW applies a rough 1.2 well-to-wheel/well-to-wake uplift for upstream fuel energy.
What is EU CBAM and does it affect South African exporters?
The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) requires EU importers to account for the embedded carbon emissions per tonne of product for iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen. This calculator flags whether your product category is in scope, but it estimates transport emissions only. Any EUR/t cost note is user-entered and illustrative, not an official CBAM rate or product embedded-emissions calculation.
Which transport mode has the lowest CO2 emissions?
Sea freight has the lowest emissions per tonne-kilometre at approximately 0.016 kg CO2/tkm — about 6 times lower than road and 38 times lower than air freight.