CountEmissions EU: how must I calculate CO2 from transport services?
Adopted 2026-06-16 · ≈ 2 min read · 
edited by Dirk Baaijen
CountEmissions EU is a Commission proposal (COM(2023) 441) for a harmonised method to calculate CO2 from transport, based on ISO 14083. Not yet adopted. Voluntary, unless you publish emissions data.
Short answer: CountEmissions EU is a European Commission proposal (COM(2023) 441) for a single harmonised method to calculate greenhouse gas emissions from passenger and freight transport, based on the ISO 14083 standard. It has not yet been adopted and is not yet in force. The method is voluntary, unless you publish emissions data for a transport service: then you must use this method.
What is CountEmissions EU?
CountEmissions EU is part of the Greening Freight Package the Commission presented in July 2023. The goal is that everyone who reports CO2 figures for a transport service does so in the same way. Today, each party calculates differently, which makes figures incomparable and leaves room for greenwashing.
- Status: a proposal, not yet adopted or in force. The content may still change during the procedure in the Council and the European Parliament.
- Scope: both passenger and freight transport, across all modes (road, rail, water, air).
- Basis: the international standard ISO 14083, which sets out how to quantify and report greenhouse gas emissions of transport chains.
Voluntary, unless you publish
The core of the proposal: you are not obliged to calculate or share the CO2 of your transport services. But once you do publish or provide emissions figures for a service to a customer, you must do so using the harmonised method.
- Comparability: customers can compare providers on a fair basis.
- Countering greenwashing: a claim must be backed by a standardised calculation.
- One language: the same system boundaries, the same emission factors, the same reporting format.
What does this already mean for you?
Many shippers and carriers already receive customer questions about the CO2 emissions of shipments. Even though the proposal is not yet in force, you can prepare.
- Align with ISO 14083: it is the substantive basis of the proposal and is already requested by large buyers.
- Get your data points in order: distances, load factors, fuel and energy use, mode per leg.
- Be careful with claims: make clear which method and which assumptions sit behind a figure, as long as there is no legal standard.
By working to ISO 14083 now, you are prepared should CountEmissions EU be adopted, and you can give customers a substantiated, traceable figure today.
Read more: the Transport & Logistics overview. Take the scan.
Sources
- https://transport.ec.europa.eu/transport-modes/multimodal-transport/greening-freight-package_en
European Commission — Greening Freight Package including CountEmissions EU. - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52023PC0441
Proposal COM(2023) 441: CountEmissions EU (not yet adopted).
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