"Quality CO2 reporting is increasingly becoming a serious matter"

At Connekt, parties collaborate on sustainable accessibility. CO2 calculations and reporting play a vital role in this. Connekt member BigMile focuses on such reporting. CEO Jan Pronk discusses, among other things, carbon footprint reporting.

BigMile is one of the members of the Connekt network and a partner of Lean & Green and the Top Sector Logistics. It is a 100% B2B SaaS (software as a service) platform that focuses entirely on all emission calculation reports related to transport and the supply chain. CEO Jan Pronk describes Connekt with three words: connecting, community, and collaborative partner.

Roots within Connekt

BigMile has its roots within Connekt. Following the Paris Climate Agreement, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management wanted to offer companies in the sector guidance and tools to reduce CO2 emissions. Through the Top Sector Logistics, research was conducted to see if a methodology for CO2 calculation already existed specifically for the logistics sector and whether a tool or platform was available. A methodology existed, but a platform did not. Several parties then developed BigMile within Connekt following a tender process. In 2019, a partnership was established with Lean & Green to further develop and continue testing the tool. “Lean & Green is, of course, the pre-eminent program where companies are engaged in CO2 calculations and reporting.” That collaboration has never been discontinued. BigMile remains a partner of Lean & Green, and Lean & Green participants use a version of the platform specifically developed for them. This report is used to assess whether a (new) Lean & Green Star should be awarded.

Since 2020, BigMile has no longer been part of Connekt, but has become an independent, commercial organization.

Carbon footprint reporting

At that time, many companies still viewed the platform as a 'nice to have'. “It wasn't really necessary; they could just keep doing their work without that tool.” In recent years, this has changed due to legislation and obligations, such as the CSRD, but also due to market forces. “The demand for quality CO2 reporting is increasingly becoming a serious matter. It has become a must-have for many companies.”

The minimum standard your CO2 report must meet is that it is at least compliant with the ISO 14083 standard. “That is a relatively new standard.” The introduction of this international standard indicates that reporting is becoming increasingly important.

Omnibus Directive

In February 2025, the European Commission published the Omnibus Directive, which reduced the sustainability reporting requirements for many companies. For 80% of companies, there is a two-year postponement of the CSRD, Pronk explains. “You could say that's bad news, but the reason they are doing it is very understandable. The market wasn't ready yet. In fact, it was an intervention by the EU to give the market the chance to get it right.” Pronk says he sees with BigMile users that it can take a few months before you have extracted the right data from your systems and can produce your first reports. “At that point, you haven't even improved or optimized anything yet.” Companies are now being given more time. “The expectation is that after those two years, there will be less optionality. Use this time to get it right the first time,” says Pronk.

Collaboration within the chain

Collaboration in the logistics chain is essential, especially for sustainability. “Without collaboration, the entire chain wouldn't exist. There is so much dependency involved.” The era of the classic power dynamic between the transport client and the provider—where the client pushed purely on price and went for the cheapest provider—is now behind us. You increasingly see companies realizing they face a shared challenge to make the chain more sustainable. If they don't, it will eventually cost money and trade. “Collaboration is truly key in this. The surrounding IT ecosystem is also important, as it must be able to facilitate this. Here, you also see an increasing need for standardization.”

Carbon accounting

For the future, Pronk expects CO2 to become equivalent to a currency. “CO2 will soon represent an X amount of euros or dollars. You can already see this to some extent in the emission trade systems (ETS), and this will gradually be rolled out further.” He also expects CO2 reporting to become a kind of VAT system. “No one will want to pay for CO2 twice, so who should actually pay for which part of the chain? The registration of this, carbon accounting, will step-by-step become more necessary.” According to Pronk, companies that do not have a grip on their CO2 reporting and do not know how to improve should ask themselves if they are truly future-proof.

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