The retail sector accounts for around 25 per cent of global emission, with the vast majority of these emissions occurring in the supply chain.
Reducing the carbon footprint of retailers and their supply chains will play a vital role in Australia’s goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 – while for the retailers themselves, the benefits of carbon management extend far beyond sustainability.
However, tracking supply chain carbon emissions in the retail industry can be a complex task with several challenges. Obtaining accurate and comprehensive data on transportation-related emissions can be difficult.
The retail supply chain is typically complex, involving multiple stages and various transportation modes, such as road, rail, air, and sea. Tracking carbon emissions across this complex network can be challenging, especially when dealing with global supply chains that involve multiple countries and jurisdictions.
Also last-mile delivery, which involves transporting products from distribution centres to end consumers, often contributes a significant portion of emissions in the retail sector. Factors such as delivery routes, vehicle types, and traffic conditions can greatly impact carbon emissions.
Delivery options like next-day or same-day delivery, product returns, and customer location choices can also significantly impact transportation emissions.
But global tech company Nihilent, who has a large and rapidly expanding presence in Australia, has developed software that can calculate and capture CO2 emissions in real time, providing complete visibility into the carbon footprint of your transport operations.
iMission is a cutting-edge cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution, designed specifically to quantitatively measure carbon emissions associated with freight transportation throughout the supply chain, covering all modes of transport and intermodal shipments. This powerful tool enables businesses to accurately calculate and analyse the carbon footprint of their logistics operations.
With iMission, organisations can gain a comprehensive understanding of the environmental impact of their freight transportation activities at various legs of the supply chain to help identify areas where emissions can be reduced. Whether it’s road, rail, air, or sea transport, iMission captures the relevant data and performs detailed calculations to quantify carbon emissions.
Importantly, iMission aligns with internationally recognised standards such as EN 16258 and the Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) framework. This ensures that emissions quantification follows established methodologies and guidelines, enabling businesses to meet compliance requirements and benchmark their performance against industry standards.
With this information at their fingertips retailers will be able to make informed decisions and identify areas where emissions can be reduced on their way to achieving net zero targets.
Robin Rastogi is senior vice president and region head of Nihilent Australia.