2 - Introduction to the identification of boundaries

Introduction to the conduct of step 2: definitions, governance, requirements and deliverables.

Source: Freepik

The perimeter identification step aims to frame the emissions that will be accounted for. The Bilan Carbone® is transparent about the perimeters considered. The organisation shall define:

• Step 2.1: the accounted emissions, which are at minimum the induced emissions (Pillar A).

• Step 2.2: the accounting scale: as a reminder this methodological guide applies at the scale of an organisation, so it is a question of framing the organisational boundary organisational.

• Step 2.3: the temporality of the assessment: this is about framing the organisational boundary temporal.

• Step 2.4: the identification and mapping of emission sources, allowing the framing of the organisational boundary operational.

• Step 2.5: the identification of Transition risks and opportunities.

Figure 2: Boundaries of the approach

🌐 English version of this image.

Glossary related to the identification of Boundaries

All terms related to the steps of boundary identification are explained in the glossary. They are reminded below:

• Induced, avoided or sequestered emissions: These are respectively the organisation's emissions (direct or indirect), the emissions of other stakeholders that the organisation enables to reduce, or the emissions that the organisation enables to sequester.

• Carbon accounting scale: Four scales mainly: Territory, Individual, Product, Organisation.

• Organisational boundary: All sites, facilities and equipment taken into account during the organisation's carbon accounting exercise.

• Temporal boundary: Specific time period for the organisation's carbon accounting exercise.

• Operational boundary: All emission sources taken into account during the organisation's carbon accounting exercise, as well as their breakdown by emission category.

• Significance: It is accepted that some indirect GHG emission sources, within an organisation's operational boundary, do not contribute significantly to the total indirect emissions. For an emission to be considered significant, it must meet at least one of the significance criteria. The notion of significance can be useful for setting priorities during accounting, when choosing actions or when monitoring results.

• Emission source: Physical unit or process releasing greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere.

• Emission category: Grouping of GHG emissions originating from several homogeneous emission sources. The Bilan Carbone® nomenclature uses the semantics of emission categories. Other standards may use the semantics of scopes or emission categories. Some correspondence links are possible.

Governance related to the identification of Boundaries

The governance of the boundary identification step is part of the overall governance of the Bilan Carbone® approach presented previously. It is the coordinator who leads the identification of the boundaries.

Requirements related to the identification of Boundaries

For reference, here is the summary of requirements and recommendations, for each maturity level. These criteria are explained in detail in the following sub-sections.

Beginner level

Boundary

• E: Operational boundary

  • E1: The assessment shall take into account all direct emissions and between 80% and 100% of the organisation's indirect emissions.

• F: Identification of emission sources

  • F1: The identification of emission sources shall be carried out via a flow mapping.

• G: Identification of physical and transition risks

  • G1: The organisation shall identify the various risks related to climate change (physical risks, transition risks).

Intermediate level

Advanced level

Deliverables related to the identification of Boundaries

The information and deliverables obtained at the end of step 2, and associated with the above requirements, are to be reported at the end of the approach:

• The choice of organisational boundary as well as a justification (list of concerned facilities and sites);

• The chosen temporal boundary;

• The organisation's flow map (quantified, if applicable) or the analytical mapping (if applicable);

• The choice of the operational boundary (significance criterion if applicable) and its justification;

• The physical and transition risks related to climate change; according to what is required in the maturity level (list of risks and opportunities, risk mapping, or risk analysis if applicable).

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