Where the numbers come from
Every external source we cite, with the version we use, the date we last verified it, and a direct link. These sources underpin the GLEC Framework v3.2 methodology used by the freight emissions calculator and API. Technical terms referenced in these sources are defined in the freight emissions glossary.
20 sources across 5 categories. Last catalogue review: .
Methodology standards
- Publisher
- Smart Freight Centre
- Last verified
- Used for
- Default emission factors per transport mode and sub-mode, empty-mileage assumptions; every API response declares emission_factor.source: "GLEC Framework v3.2".
- Publisher
- International Organization for Standardization
- Last verified
- Used for
- Methodology rules — data quality tiers, multimodal allocation, hub emissions, and WTW/TTW/WTT definitions applied to every calculation.
- Publisher
- World Resources Institute / WBCSD
- Last verified
- Used for
- Scope 3 Category 4 upstream transport classification and the Quality Score tier mapping used in the EcoFreight API response.
- Publisher
- European Committee for Standardization (CEN)
- Last verified
- Used for
- Referenced for the European pre-ISO methodology baseline; still cited by some EU member-state regulators and carrier software.
GLEC Framework v3.2
October 2025 edition
ISO 14083:2023
2023 first edition
EN 16258:2012
2012 edition
Government and intergovernmental data
- Publisher
- International Maritime Organization
- Last verified
- Used for
- Fleet-level vessel emission intensities and mode-share statistics cited in the State of Freight Emissions 2026 report.
- Publisher
- International Maritime Organization
- Last verified
- Used for
- IMO 2030 reduction targets, FuelEU alignment context, and revised CII rating band parameters referenced in the compliance and methodology pages.
- Publisher
- European Commission, Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union
- Last verified
- Used for
- CBAM definitive period obligations, embedded-emissions reporting fields, and default-factor penalty structure cited in the CBAM 2026 blog post.
- Publisher
- European Environment Agency
- Last verified
- Used for
- European road and rail freight emission trends, modal-shift data, and electric-vehicle fleet penetration statistics.
- Publisher
- International Energy Agency
- Last verified
- Used for
- Global freight energy consumption, SAF production volumes, and electrification deployment figures cited in the State of Freight Emissions 2026 report.
- Publisher
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
- Last verified
- Used for
- GWP100 values for non-CO2 gases (CH4, N2O) and radiative-forcing context used in the aviation air freight uplift factor.
IMO Fourth GHG Study 2020
2020 edition
IMO MEPC session outcomes (MEPC 82)
MEPC 82, October 2024
EEA Transport and Environment Report
2024 edition
IEA Transport Annual Report
2025 edition
IPCC Sixth Assessment Report — Working Group I
AR6 WG1, 2021
Industry and research
- Publisher
- International Council on Clean Transportation
- Last verified
- Used for
- LNG methane-slip emission factors and container shipping fuel-intensity data used to cross-check GLEC v3.2 sea freight values.
- Publisher
- Smart Freight Centre
- Last verified
- Used for
- Requirements an emissions tool must meet to claim GLEC conformance; EcoFreight maps its API response schema against these criteria.
- Publisher
- Berkeley Carbon Trading Project, UC Berkeley
- Last verified
- Used for
- Voluntary carbon market credit quality findings cited in the carbon credits and offsets blog post and the quality-score documentation.
- Publisher
- Science Based Targets initiative
- Last verified
- Used for
- SBTi pathway alignment criteria and near-term target-setting rules referenced in the compliance page and the net-zero supply chain post.
- Publisher
- United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
- Last verified
- Used for
- Global container trade volumes and fleet statistics used for fleet-scale emission estimates in the State of Freight Emissions 2026 report.
SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard
v1.2, 2023
UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport
2024 edition
EcoFreight first-party data
- Publisher
- EcoFreight
- Last verified
- Used for
- Internal annual report synthesising EcoFreight API data with public sources; cited in blog posts and the press kit as primary research.
- Publisher
- EcoFreight
- Last verified
- Used for
- Anonymised aggregate query volumes and modal-mix patterns used in the State of Freight Emissions 2026 report; no individual shipment data is retained beyond 30 days.
- Publisher
- EcoFreight
- Last verified
- Used for
- Internal versioning record of emission-factor updates, with dated entries for each GLEC version migration; accessible via the methodology page.
State of Freight Emissions Report 2026
2026 annual edition
Standards bodies
- Publisher
- Schema.org community (Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Yandex)
- Last verified
- Used for
- JSON-LD structured data vocabulary used across all EcoFreight pages for WebPage, BlogPosting, Dataset, FAQPage, and BreadcrumbList types.
- Publisher
- OpenAPI Initiative (Linux Foundation)
- Last verified
- Used for
- API contract format for the EcoFreight REST API; the /docs page renders the OAS 3.1 specification via Scalar.
OpenAPI Specification
OAS 3.1
Source URLs are verified periodically. If you find a broken link or a newer version of a cited document, email hello@ecofreight.co.