NYK Line and has announced plans to launch a system to help measure and visualise Scope 3 emissions.

NYK and digital services company NTT DATA signed a GHG emissions visualisation support consultancy agreement in August.

The two companies are setting up a system that would aggregate total GHG emissions from the NYK head office and about 80 subsidiaries.

Scope 3 emissions are the focus because aggregation boundaries and calculation methods have not been established yet which, according to NYK, is one of the biggest challenges for reaching net-zero by 2050.

By adding Scope 3 data to its Scope 1 and 2 data, NYK aims to visualise the GHG emissions of the entire NYK group, moving beyond the ship transport business to include all other businesses such as wholesale and manufacturing.

NYK said this would enable it to analyse efforts to reduce GHG emissions contribute to more effective GHG emission reductions.

Akira Kono, NYK Line’s representative director, executive vice-president executive officer and chief executive of ESG Strategy Headquarters, said one of the challenges for NYK Group has been understanding the full scale of Scope 3 emissions.

“In addition to the cooperation of NYK Group companies, the establishment of an appropriate calculation system with the generous calculation support provided by NTT DATA is a vital step in our efforts to reduce GHG emissions,” he said.

“We will take the initiative in understanding the GHG emissions of our supply chain and lead the way toward a decarbonised society.”

And Isao Arima, director and senior executive vice president of NTT DATA, said more effort is needed in international shipping to accurately identify and reduce emissions.

“NYK has established a system for all its domestic and overseas operations and is working to provide accurate calculations for not only its Scope 1 and 2 emissions but also its advanced Scope 3 emissions.

“We are very pleased to be able to work together with NYK on this kind of project. NTT DATA will continue to support decarbonisation management beyond visualisation.”

NYK is planning to have the system in place by December 2023.