ClimateBase records are calculated against the IMPA Maritime Emission Framework (IMEF) and conform to ISO 14040, 14044, and 14067. Every figure on the platform carries its full audit chain so any procurement team or external auditor can reproduce it.
IMEF is the maritime-specific extension of ISO 14067 maintained by IMPA's Marine Sustainability Council. It splits a product's life cycle into seven stages and defines, for each one, the emission sources that must be counted, the cut-off rules, and the allocation procedure when a process produces multiple co-products.
Cradle-to-gate is the default boundary for ClimateBase listings — it's the slice procurement teams need to compare suppliers fairly, and the slice IMPA SAVE requires for participation. Suppliers can extend the boundary if they have credible primary data for downstream stages.
IMEF inherits its rules of evidence from the ISO life-cycle assessment family. ClimateBase enforces conformance at publish time — a record cannot go live if its goal-and-scope, inventory, and impact-assessment phases don't pass an automated check against the standard.
Defines the four LCA phases — goal & scope, inventory, impact, interpretation — and the iterative review loop between them.
Specifies cut-off criteria, allocation procedures, sensitivity analysis, and data-quality requirements for the inventory phase.
Narrows ISO 14044 to the climate-change impact category. Defines what a PCF is, how to communicate it, and what a verifier must check.
For shipowners, the value of a ClimateBase record is that it slots directly into their corporate inventory under the GHG Protocol. Each PCF carries metadata declaring which Scope 3 category it serves — typically 3.1 Purchased goods & services for consumables, or 3.4 Upstream transportation for inbound logistics.
The GHG Protocol's Product Standard is conformant with ISO 14067, so a record that passes IMEF + ISO checks is automatically valid as a Scope 3 input. No double-conversion, no redundant evidence packs.
For each life-cycle stage, ClimateHub® computes the GWP-100 contribution as the sum-product of activity data and matched emission factors, with allocation applied where a unit process produces multiple outputs.
where A = activity quantity, EF = emission factor (kgCO2e per unit of A), α = allocation coefficient, FU = functional unit declared on the product.
Factors come from a hierarchy: supplier-primary > ecoinvent v3.10 > IMEF maritime industry-average > sectoral generic. Every line in the inventory records which tier supplied its factor, so the data-quality grade can be computed mechanically rather than declared.
Every ClimateBase listing carries an A–D data-quality grade, derived from the share of the inventory backed by primary data versus proxies. Buyers see this grade up-front in the directory; auditors can drill down to the inventory line that drove it.
| Grade | Primary share | Description | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | ≥ 80% | Supplier-measured inputs across all major hotspots; verified by external party | CSRD-grade reporting, SBTi targets |
| B | 50–79% | Mix of primary and named-source proxies; key hotspots primary | Procurement comparison, internal reporting |
| C | 20–49% | Industry-average proxies for most stages; primary for at least one hotspot | Screening, supplier prioritisation |
| D | < 20% | Almost entirely proxy-based; declared as a starting baseline | Coverage placeholder, year-1 baseline |
ClimateBase deliberately accepts grade-C and grade-D records. A transparent low-grade figure is more useful than a missing one — it tells procurement the gap exists and gives the supplier a roadmap to climb the ladder.
No record reaches the public directory without passing four independent checks. Each check is logged, time-stamped, and signed — the full chain is exposed in the record's "Provenance" tab so a buyer's auditor can reproduce any figure.
ISO 14040/44/67 + IMEF rules checked at publish time.
Inventory completeness, cut-offs, and allocation sanity-checked.
DNV, Bureau Veritas, or LR signs the calculation off.
Listing distributed to the IMPA SAVE shipowner network.
A PCF is never finished — supplier data improves over time. ClimateBase versions every record. When a supplier updates an input or a verifier signs off on a new revision, the directory shows the new figure and keeps the prior version addressable for any buyer who is still reporting against it.
We recommend annual revisions on the supplier's reporting calendar. Any factor change > 10% triggers an automatic notification to every shipowner who has pulled the record in the last 12 months, so stale numbers don't end up in next year's report.
Discontinued SKUs stay on the platform but are flagged as retired. Their last verified PCF remains available for buyers reporting against historical procurement.