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Purpose Carbon footprints (CF) provide companies, customers, and other agents with information related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the life cycle of products, identifying key points in the supply chain, potential risks, and opportunities of improvement. This paper briefly examines how the method composed of financial statements (MC3) (MC3, as coined from the name of the method in Spanish, i.e., método compuesto de las cuentas contables.) approaches to specific requirements related to the assessment of product GHG emissions, pointing out the contribution of this method to assessing and communicating the carbon footprint of products. Materials and methods The MC3 was developed between 2000 and 2002 by J. L. Doménech who designed a tool for assessing ecological and carbon footprint of organizations. Nowadays, MC3 is supported by the MultiUniversity Working Group on Corporative Footprint. One of the recent achievements of this group has been the development of MC3 for products carbon footprinting. The MC3 approach has been recognized by the Spanish Observatory for Sustainability as a valid methodology for assessing and reducing GHG emissions arising from companies under the frame of the Spanish GHG Voluntary Reduction Agreement. Results MC3 offers guidelines for assessing the CF of products. Guidelines include specific requirements for issues such as system boundaries, temporal boundaries, and goal setting. Information on specific issues such as emissions from land use change, capital goods or carbon storage clarifies the approach to be taken by organizations implementing product carbon footprinting. Discussion Consumers and organizations all over the world are interested in obtaining information regarding the carbon footprint of products they consume and produce, being needed further standardization of methods for carbon footprinting. However, it is difficult that one approach provides for optimal results in a wide range of situations. MC3 is one of the existing approaches to assess the CF of products. MC3 has been developed under the premise of being a simple and practical method. The role of markets as the main source of communicating CF information on products among the members of the supply chain is an important strength of the method. Conclusions MC3 provides for an internationally standardized method for the assessment of GHG emissions from the life cycle of products built on the LCA guidance and key principles of relevant approaches of the field of LCA. MC3 offers useful information for sustainable development, carbon management of organizations and sustainable consumption, being a flexible, transparent, and easy-toapply method.Keywords Carbon footprinting . GHG (greenhouse gas) assessment . LCA . MC3 (one of the existing approaches to assess the CF of products) . Supply chain Responsible editor:

Green corridors are a European concept denoting long-distance freight transport corridors where advanced technology and co-modality are used to achieve energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact. Green corridors consider all types of agents acting in the door-to-door co-modality chains, including ports. Carbon footprints (CF) provide companies, customers and other agents with information related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the supply chain of products, identifying key points, potential risks and opportunities for improvement. Its application in both the logistic networks and all modes of transport would allow for the creation of green corridors and sustainable motorways of the sea. This paper describes the method which is composed of financial accounts (MC3) used to estimate the CF of a port. It shows the effects of the method on the Port of Gijo´n (PAG), which steers the existing Gijo´n/Nantes/Saint-Nazaire motorway of the sea. The extension of the system to all nodes of the shipping line and other transport modes will lead in the long run to a carbon-neutral green corridor. Our findings show the importance of looking at indirect emissions in order to become a carbon neutral port.

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The ecological footprint is studied as a macroindicator of sustainability applicable to companies and corporations. Until now, this macroindicator has been applied to cities, regions, or countries. It accounts for the consumption of natural resources by converting them into hectares of “nature” or consumed productive land. The parameters analyzed in this research have been consumption of energy, fuel, material, paper, wood, water, built land, and green areas, and residues generated by the Gijón Port Authority, Spain. The results show a net ecological footprint of 3,279.84 ha. The main components of the footprint are construction works (nearly 2,000 ha) and electricity consumption (679 ha). Studies of this kind enable companies to design sustainable development plans to reduce consumption as well as develop “green” (footprint-free) products and create “natural capital” (wastage absorption). Until now, these issues have not been on the agenda of companies, but they are indispensable in achieving real sustainability.