1. Help Center
  2. Ducky Insights
  3. API - Climate research and data

Conversion of financial transactions to footprint

Get footprint in kilograms of CO2-equivalents for financial transactions by category

All inputs, outputs and defaults can be seen in the Convert finance technical API docs.

Inputs

This endpoint receives:

  • a data source to base calculations on
  • a list of financial categories, associated to a value and its unit
  • optionally the date for which the footprint should be computed

At least one category must be provided. Value and unit of currency is optional. If you have not submitted a value, you get the default unit and conversion factor for the given category in return. The date the financial transaction took place is also optional input. If no date is given, the current date is taken as default.

dataSource

Valid input unit of currency

norway

NOK

japan

JPY (planned)

united_kingdom (planned)

GBP (planned)

Contact support@ducky.eco if you are interested in adding another currency. 

Outputs

This endpoint returns, for each category:

  • footprint in kilos of CO2e, rounded to grams

Categories

The endpoint currently supports only lvl. 2 and 3 categories as input and output (not lvl. 1 aggregates).

Category name

Lvl.

Description

food

2

Food and edibles purchased for consumption at home

nonAlcoholicBeverages

2

juices, water, soft drinks, coffee, tea

alcoholicBeverages

2

beer, wine, spirits and liquor

tobacco

2

cigarettes, cigars, other tobacco products, other narcotics

clothesAndShoes

1

Aggregate of clothing and footwear

clothing

2

clothing materials, garments, and tailoring, repair and cleaning services

footwear

2

footwear and repair and cleaning services

housingAndMaintenance

1

Aggregate of actualRentals, imputedRentals, and homeMaintenance

actualRentals

2

payment for rental of land, residences both primary and secondary, and connected parking spaces

imputedRentals

2

the economic value in rental equivalent of dwellings that are owned by their residents. Not the same as e.g. mortgage

homeMaintenance

2

materials for regular home maintenance such as paints, plumbing items & fire extinguishers, security equipment, and services related to regular maintenance

services

1

Aggregate of homeServices, householdMaintenance, insurance, financialServices

homeServices

2

water supply, garbage, sewage collection and similar services

householdMaintenance

2

expendendable household goods like soaps and polishes, cleaning implements, napkins, and disposable kitchen goods; glue and tape

insurance

2

all types of insurance including life, health, dwelling and transport

financialServices

2

moneylenders and credit cards; fees for banking

energy

2

electricity, gas and other fuels

energyElectricity

3

electricity from all sources

energySolidFuels

3

solid fuels such as firewood, coal, etc

furnitureAndEquipment

1

Aggregate of furniture, textiles, appliances, tableware and houseAndGarden lvl 2 categories.

furniture

2

furniture including garden furnitures, furnishings such as light, loose objects such as carpets, art and clocks, and repair and installation of such items

textiles

2

household textiles such as curtains, bedding, towels, doormats; repair of such items

appliances

2

major household appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers, ovens, vacuum cleaners and air-conditioners, and repair and installation of such items

tableware

2

glassware, cutlery, flatware, silverware, kitchen utensils and other small household items; repair of such items

houseAndGarden

2

motorized tools like drills and lawn mowers, small hand tools for house and garden, and repair of such items

personalPurchases

1

Aggregate of medicalSupplies, computerEquipment, audiovisualEquipment, recreationalGoods, gamesGardensAndPets, and personalEffects lvl 2 categories.

medicalSupplies

2

medicines, vaccines, medical devices, and other medical products including assistive products like hearing aids or crutches; repair and maintenance of such items

computerEquipment

2

fixed and mobile telephone equipment, including smart phones, personal computers, printers, routers/modem, small electronic gadgets, and accessories like cables, discs and drives, and gadgets like smartwatches or e-book readers

audiovisualEquipment

2

cameras of all kinds and accessories such as lenses; binoculars, telescopes and compasses

recreationalGoods

2

camper vans, boats, canoes, kayaks, golf carts, etc

gamesGardensAndPets

2

board and card games, video games, consoles and game apps, other tools, celebration articles, sporting goods, garden products and flowers, pets and pet products

sportingGoods

3

equipment for sport, camping and open-air recreation

personalEffects

2

jewelry, watches, devotional/religious items, bags and purses; repair of such items

personalServices

1

Aggregation of outpatientHealthcareServices, inpatientHealthcareServices, postalServices, telephoneServices, recreationalServices, newspapersAndBooks, catering, personalCare, socialProtection, and otherServices lvl 2 categories.

outpatientHealthcareServices

2

all medical services that don't require an overnight stay, including dental work and long term assistive care

inpatientHealthcareServices

2

all medical services that require an overnight hospital stay

postalServices

2

stamps, courier services, parcel delivery, delivery of goods

telephoneServices

2

installation and subscription costs or fees for internet and phones; subscriptions to streaming services or TV

recreationalServices

2

rental, maintenance and repair of recreational items, as well as veterinary services, tickets to sporting event, fairgrounds or theater, and membership fees to recreational services; gambling

newspapersAndBooks

2

all kinds of books in physical and electronic form, recorded tapes/CDs/DVDs, newspaper and other periodicals, stationary and misc printed matter like brochures

catering

2

food purchased for consumption outside of the home such as restaurants, cafeterias, cafés, vending machines or cinemas; includes tips

accommodation

2

resorts, hotels, hostels, rental cabins, guesthouses, dormitories or railway sleeping cars

personalCare

2

appliances such as razors or toothbrushes, including electric appliances, and repair of such items; make-up, hairdressing and salons

socialProtection

2

Non-medical assistance and support services to the elderly, disabled or destitute

otherServices

2

legal services, services for real estate agents, photocopies, administrative documents, and other personal services like astrologers or private detectives

transport

1

Aggregation of vehicle purchase, operationOfTransportEquipment, transportServices, transportRailway, transportRoad, transportAir, transportWater, and packageHolidays lvl 2 categories.

vehiclePurchase

2

purchase of vehicles for transport including cars, motorcycles, bicycles and animal-drawn vehicles

operationOfTransportEquipment

2

parts and accessories for personal transport equipment such as tires, inner tubes, batteries, helmets, GPS, roof boxes, etc

fuelsForTransport

3

petrol (gasoline), diesel, liquid petroleum gas, lubricants; electricity as a fuel when separately priced from other electricity

maintenanceOfTransportEquipment

3

services related to maintenance and repair of personal transport equipment; includes parking & tolls

transportServices

2

all transport services public and private

transportRailway

3

passenger transport by railway, rapid transit or tram

transportRoad

3

passenger transport by road, including buses (regular routes, charter and school buses), taxis or hired cars, tuk-tuks, motorcycle taxis

transportAir

3

passenger transport by air, any distance

transportWater

3

passenger transport by water, including ships, boats, ferries, hovercraft, hydrofoils and water taxis

packageHolidays

2

all-inclusive holidays or tours

education

1

Aggregation of preAndPrimarySchool, secondarySchool, vocationalSchool, universityAndCollege, and otherEducation lvl 2 categories

preAndPrimarySchool

2

kindergarten and primary education

secondarySchool

2

secondary education

vocationalSchool

2

post-secondary non-tertiary education; preparation for labor market entry

universityAndCollege

2

higher education such as universities or colleges

otherEducation

2

education not defined by level such as language courses or tutoring and driving lessons

donations

2

all kinds of charitable donations

Calculations and sources

The categories are based on COICOP level 2, with some additional level 3 categories added where we feel the resolution is useful. The multipliers per category are calculated based on the methodology for matching environmentally extended input-output assessment with consumer expenditure survey as described by Steen-Olsen et al. (2016).  In essence, we look at the emissions generated by all economic activity in a country (including imports and exports), and map those emissions to what is spent by consumers' individual households. In this way, we can determine the amount of emissions associated with a single unit of currency in that country.

The date also influences the calculations. We account for inflationary effects, temporal effects (higher energy prices in winter),  and their impact on your footprint. For example, as manufacturers decarbonize their supply chains, the emissions intensity of their products will decrease. Hence, if you buy the same product five years from now, the footprint of your purchase will be lower in the future.

For Norway, the consumer expenditure survey is curated by SSB; since it is infrequently updated, prices and spending have been inflation-adjusted to the closest year. This data is linked to Asplan Viak’s input output model based on Eurostat data, which provides the most frequently updated and detailed model of the Norwegian economy.

For the UK and Japan, Exiobase is used as a source for input-output data. Local consumer expenditure surveys are used.

See also intro to convert endpoint overview for related endpoints.