Transportation is responsible for one-fifth of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, with freight transport alone accounting for 29% of this figure. Siloed data and an inability to measure emissions prevents companies, especially those with intricate supply chains, from understanding the true footprint of their transport activities. Moreover, the tightening of ESG regulations and GHG reporting requirements adds additional pressure on organizations to disclose and reduce these emissions. Decarbonizing transport is a massive opportunity, but it’s difficult for companies to take action and reach their net zero goals without access to trusted and standardized data and insights.
To mitigate the carbon footprint of their freight transport operations and adhere to GHG reporting standards, businesses are in urgent need of solutions to:
- Accurately Measure Emissions: Monitor carbon output across various modes of transport.
- Identify Optimization Opportunities: Pinpoint inefficiencies in their operations and highlight opportunities to make sustainable transport choices.
- Drive Informed Decisions: Get clear insights that empower them to take tangible steps towards reducing their carbon footprint.
Challenge: Empower businesses to tackle freight transport emissions with confidence
Janina Bauer, Global Head of Sustainability at Celonis, and her team set out to help Celonis customers measure, monitor and reduce their freight transport emissions. Bauer and the team needed a way to integrate CO2e data and calculations into the Celonis platform that met the following parameters:
- Scalable: The API had to be able to handle a large volume of calculations without negatively affecting performance or reliability.
- Data Quality: The emission calculations must have the granularity and depth necessary to demonstrate data accuracy and compliance.
- No "Black Box" Methodology: The solution must provide visibility into the underlying methodology and emission factors used in the calculations so as to avoid unexplained discrepancies, leading to a loss of customer trust and adoption.
“The emission factors had to be of superior quality and detail, ideally supported by a scientific committee or a dedicated team we could engage with to validate the calculations. Additionally, they needed to be presented in a manner that is accessible and comprehensible even to our customers,” said Bauer.
Solution: Climatiq and Celonis partner to deliver trusted and transparent carbon insights
Bauer’s experience highlighted the need to work with a trusted partner: “Our top priority was finding a company deeply rooted in data and science, highly technical, and able to function as an extension of our product.”
After assessing several solutions, Bauer identified Climatiq as being the best fit. Climatiq's Calculate API offered her and the Celonis product team the carbon emissions data and calculations needed to build a reliable solution, enabling users to make sustainable shipping choices through real-time visibility and data-driven insights.
Key benefits included:
- Scalability: A modular and developer-friendly toolkit, which enabled Celonis to seamlessly integrate Climatiq's API and scale their solution with ease.
- Scientific Credibility: Climatiq’s methodology is validated by an in-house Science and Data team with oversight by a Scientific Advisory Board. Calculations adhere to standards such as GHG Protocol, GLEC, and ISO 14067, guaranteeing reliable carbon estimates for Celonis users.
- Transparency: Climatiq provides a transparent breakdown for each calculation, detailing the emission factor applied, source, region, calculation method, data quality flags, and more, making all calculations audit-ready and verifiable – a must-have for enterprise customers.
“Receiving carbon insights, along with the context and background information, allows our customers to gain a deeper understanding of emission categories and the origins of the data,” said Bauer.
The Celonis Shipping Emissions Reduction app, developed in collaboration with Climatiq, empowers Celonis's global user base to effortlessly blend carbon metrics with key operational levers, such as lead time. Powered by Celonis Process Intelligence and Climatiq’s API, the app leverages ERP and other logistics data to provide detailed, real-time insights on freight emissions, highlighting inefficiencies like overuse of air freight.
This solution goes beyond just showing past and present data; it uses simulations to predict the emission impact of different choices, such as consolidating shipments to help operations managers make greener decisions and progress towards emission reduction goals.
Impact: Celonis launches 2 solutions with Climatiq, adds 15+ new customers, and empowers emission reductions at scale
Over the last two years, Celonis has unveiled multiple sustainability-focused apps, including the Shipping Emissions Reduction app and the Material Emissions app. “Climatiq’s collaborative approach, carbon accounting expertise, and flexibility during the integration process and beyond have made them trusted partners in delivering Celonis' sustainability offerings," said Bauer.
One of Celonis' clients, thyssenKrupp Rasselstein, was able to pinpoint potential emission reductions of about 4.5 million kgCO2e within a few months of implementing the Shipping Emissions Reduction app. Another client has achieved a 17% decrease in the distance traveled by their delivery trucks, leading to millions of dollars in savings.
Aligning our vision and team from the outset was essential: "Climatiq offered a strong alignment with a company mission closely matching our objectives,” Bauer remarks.
