BAKGRUNN (fra Kommisjonens konsultasjonsnettside, engelsk utgave)

Carbon footprinting is a method to generate data about the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of transport operations on an aggregated level of a company, or more detailed, on the level of a trip and service, like the delivery of a parcel. Many initiatives, both at the EU and global level, have been deployed for identifying carbon footprints of transport services. Also several tools are available for comparing various transport modes on the GHG emissions. However, at the moment there exists no universally accepted definition of the concept of carbon footprint. Existing methodologies and tools for measuring the carbon footprint show manifold divergences and inconsistencies between them.

The availability of carbon footprints of transport services that are based on a common methodology and the increased use of carbon footprinting by the industry may improve the GHG performance of the transport sector. In order to contribute to the harmonisation of carbon footprinting measurement for both freight and passenger transport services in Europe, the Commission launched a study supporting the assessment of impacts for possible actions to be undertaken at the EU level.

The context of the consultation is explained in more detail in the background document.