📗Foreword
Methodological guide of Bilan Carbone®.
The new version of the Bilan Carbone® methodology is now online!
To learn more about the changes made, please consult the change log.
Summary
This methodological guide presents version number 9 of the Bilan Carbone® method applied to an organisation. It details the objectives, principles, methodology, steps of the approach, and presents various appendices and resources useful for its application and evaluation.
The Bilan Carbone® method, born from the initiative ofADEME, French Public Agency for Ecological Transition and later supported byAssociation for Low Carbon Transition (ABC), constitutes an essential pillar in the assessment and reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It encompasses not only the historical method, the reference standard, but also the tools published by ABC or compliant, as well as the trainings provided by the training organisations authorised, thus forming a complete set serving its community.
Since its creation in 2004, Bilan Carbone® has undergone eight successive evolutions, demonstrating its constant commitment to advances in carbon accounting. Version 8, published in 2018, marked a significant milestone by reinforcing the strategic dimension of carbon accounting and enabling organisations to project themselves over the next 30 years.
In 2022, four years after the launch of version 8, ABC initiated work to publish in July 2024 version 9 of Bilan Carbone® (and applied in 2025), aspiring to offer a complete and coherent low-carbon transition approach, adapted to all involved actors.
Major developments of the method
Version 9 of Bilan Carbone® provides a modular methodology, a true guide of excellence enabling the development of a continuous improvement approach and a reporting of emissions of GHGs. The methodology allows deepening GHG accounting by conducting a strategic analysis of an organisation and proposes best practices regarding the transition plan.
This new version of the method introduces numerous changes:
🧭 Three maturity levels to reflect the reality of organisations
Each maturity level (Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced) is defined by specific criteria regarding renewal frequency, action tracking, boundary, and the importance of Stakeholder engagement.
Bilan Carbone® has always proven adaptable to the need (from an initial assessment to steering an organisation's decarbonisation). These new maturity levels allow setting the ambition of the approach and standardising practices. The main objective remains to enable implementation regardless of profile or maturity level.
📝 The transition plan at the heart of the method
Bilan Carbone® asserts itself as a complete seven-step approach (and not merely as a carbon accounting method) in which action planning is strengthened.
It is essential to recall the philosophy of Bilan Carbone®, focused on the principle of “count to act”. The method becomes more demanding regarding the existence of a transition plan, but it also facilitates this process by adapting to the three maturity levels, with deliverables, objectives, and monitoring indicators adjusted accordingly.
🏋️♀️ Engaging all actors
The raising awareness of actors, mandatory in previous versions of Bilan Carbone®, gives way to Stakeholder engagement, with the ambition to put organisations into action, movement and transition. Bilan Carbone® thus stands as an integral and orchestrated seven-step approach, beyond the simple carbon accounting method, in which continuous Stakeholder engagement is necessary. The method requires content and messages, and provides open resources, while leaving free the choice of formats and engagement tools.
🔢 A more accurate and pedagogical estimation of uncertainty
The estimation of uncertainty gains in precision and pedagogical clarity. From a technical standpoint, certain mathematical limits of the previous method have been resolved, in alignment with best practices for uncertainties associated with databases. This advancement allows obtaining estimates that are more reliable and representative of reality.
From a pedagogical perspective, the method now integrates both a qualitative estimate of the margin of error and a quantitative estimate. This dual approach makes the uncertainty calculation not only more useful but also more understandable and usable for users. By providing clear indications on data quality and result precision, this new uncertainty estimation facilitates better decision-making and strengthens the continuous improvement of accounting approaches.
✅ Compatible with the best standards
The use of Bilan Carbone® is compatible with other standards, notably historical ones: ISO, the GHG Protocol, the French regulatory method but also with the new European CSRD directive or analytical carbon accounting. This change facilitates its integration into the overall transition pathway, in connection with NZI, ACT, SBTi, and others.
🎯 Assessable assessments
A significant evolution lies in the evaluation and audit of results, now available on request, meeting varied needs such as regulatory compliance, assurance on the reliability of one's approach for a better transition, quality control of stakeholder assessments, and communication transparency.
Beyond the technical aspect, this standardisation of verifications implies the mobilisation of new functions, notably experts in financial accounting, underlining the move towards a more holistic and regulated approach.
🧩 A more modern method format
Beyond the technical elements introduced in Bilan Carbone®, a desire to make the method more accessible emerges through a more modern “wiki” format: knowledge is shared freely, the document is organised by step, sections are hierarchical, the search functionality allows quick access to information, and bibliographic hyperlinks streamline the experience. This format allows both a more organised overall reading and a more effective targeted reading.
The document as a whole is over 300 pages, which is why it is accompanied by a summary of the 10-page method, free and downloadable, which condenses the most structuring information of the Bilan Carbone® method.
⏳ Continuous evolutions and improvements
Bilan Carbone® aims to be dynamic and alive. Work on the method continues in discussion with the carbon accounting ecosystem within a continuous improvement logic. The next reflections will be focused in 2025 on Product footprint, Territory footprint, or on framing Bilan Carbone® with regard to avoided and sequestered emissions. Consequently, updates will evolve this guide. Each new methodological integration will be the subject of a publication transparent. Any significant update will lead to free upgrade trainings provided to the ABC community by its training partners.
Bilan Carbone® and the Association for Low Carbon Transition (ABC)
Bilan Carbone® refers to both:
A method initially developed by ADEME and Jean-Marc Jancovici of the consultancy Manicore, and today developed and updated by the Association for Low Carbon Transition (ABC). This method enables the quantification and reduction of GHG emissions. It can be applied to organisations, products or territories.
The tools published by ABC, which facilitate the calculations allowing the quantification of GHG emissions, as well as the associated user manuals.
The training organisations required to apply the Bilan Carbone® method, which are provided by partners authorised by ABC.
A registered ® trademark at INPI in France and throughout the EU
The result of the Bilan Carbone® approach applied to an organisation may be named:
Bilan Carbone® at Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced level, depending on the maturity level chosen by the organisation.
Bilan Carbone® evaluated at Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced level, depending on the maturity level chosen by the organisation, and if the organisation's Bilan Carbone® has been evaluated using the associated procedures.
The Association for Low Carbon Transition (ABC) – formerly the Bilan Carbone Association – was created in 2011 byADEME, French Public Agency for Ecological Transition andAPCC, to support and disseminate the Bilan Carbone® methodology. It provides organisations and citizens with tools and methods enabling them to succeed in defining and implementing their decarbonisation strategy. ABC brings together more than 1000 organisations committed to the climate and fosters a community of actors around low-carbon transition issues and more particularly carbon accounting. Through its missions, the association seeks to engage and train as many actors (organisations and citizens) as possible on issues related to combating climate change.
This new version of the Bilan Carbone® method is available to consult freely and at no cost. However, its use is conditional onmembership or a current licence with ABC as a legal entity, thus ensuring an up-to-date version of the tools as well as various additional services (for more details, consult the ABC website). Any organisation wishing to use the method or our tools must have at least one person trained in the Bilan Carbone® methodology by a training organisation authorised (for more details, see the terms of use).
Document architecture: how to use it?
Usage advice
This document is presented in a hierarchical “wiki” format. Several usage tips:
The editors recommend that you consult the table of contents to better navigate within the document.
The document includes numerous hyperlinks either to definitions available in the Glossary, or to other resources in the Bibliography, or to other sections cited in the document.
The document is the subject of a summary of 10 pages.
The document structure is numbered according to the 7 steps of Bilan Carbone®. It contains introductory sections upstream and resource sections downstream.
Some subsections of this document contain information subdivided into dropdown menus corresponding to the three maturity levels defined by the method. The editors recommend that you always consult the content outside the dropdown menu, which is common to the three maturity levels, before opening them to consult the detailed specificities according to the maturity level.
It is strongly recommended to read the content of the higher maturity levels, even if they do not immediately concern the level targeted by the organisation, because, in a logic ofcontinuous improvement and progression, some specific points of the higher levels may already be sought and achieved.
Structure of specific information
Side notes are present in the document. They have different meanings:
Designates an informative point of the Bilan Carbone® method
Designates the unique elements of the Bilan Carbone® method
Designates a cautionary point of the Bilan Carbone® method.
🔎 Cites a reference or an external resource for possible complement to the Bilan Carbone® method.
⏳[WIP] Designates a forthcoming evolution of the Bilan Carbone® method. In most cases following the experimentation phase. For information “WIP” means work in progress.
Terms of use
The Bilan Carbone® method guide is a work made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence
You are permitted to:
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for any purpose, including commercial.
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No additional restrictions — You are not authorised to apply legal terms or technical measures that would legally restrict others from using the Work under the conditions described by the licence.
For more details, see the terms of use.
All information on the operational boundary is documented and Do you have a comprehension question?Consult the FAQ . The method is living and therefore likely to evolve (clarifications, additions): find the.
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