Definition
Business trips include emissions from the transportation of employees for business-related activities in vehicles owned or operated by third parties (e.g. airplanes, buses, trains or cars). Optionally, the number of hotel nights during the business trip can also be included in the balance.
Emissions from transportation in vehicles owned or controlled by the reporting company are recorded in Scope 1 (for combustion vehicles) or Scope 2 (for electric vehicles). Emissions from leased vehicles are recorded in Category 3.8 Upstream leased assets. Emissions from employee transportation to and from work are included in Category 3.7 Employee commuting.
Accounting for business travel
A distinction is made between two calculation methods:
- Fuel-based method: The amount of fuel consumed is multiplied by a fuel-based emission factor.
- Distance-based method: The distance is multiplied by the emission factor of the means of transportation.
- Spend-based method: The spend of the transportation is multiplied by a spend-based emission factor.
The fuel-based method is the most precise, followed by the distance-based method and finally the spend-based method.
Data collection
The data required to calculate emissions from business trips can be collected in the following ways:
- Automatic recording of the distance traveled by mode of transport by a travel agency or other travel provider
- Automatic recording of the distance traveled by mode of transport by internal expense and reimbursement systems. To make this possible, the distance traveled and the mode of transportation used must be included in travel or expense forms.
- Annual surveys of employees
Accounting for business travel in the Climate Hub
Some predefined activities with emission factors are stored in the Climate Hub. You can enter the quantity here. The Climate Hub then calculates the emissions for you. If you would like to enter further activities or use your own emission factors, you can do so by clicking the Add own activity button at the bottom left. You can find a detailed description here.
Further information can be found in the Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions of the GHG Protocol in Chapter 6: Business Travel from page 81.