2.3 - Temporal boundary
Over which period shall emissions be accounted for?
A Bilan Carbone® shall quantify an organisation's emissions over a time interval called the temporal boundary of the approach.
The temporal boundary of a Bilan Carbone® is conventionally one year, in order to best reflect the organisation's activity as a whole.
A Bilan Carbone® can also cover a specific period: the analysis then focuses on the duration of an event or a project, in order to provide decision support. It is possible to carry out the Bilan Carbone® of an event “in real time”, or to study the GHG dimension of several scenarios of the same project by choosing the appropriate organisational, operational and temporal boundaries.
Example: construction projects may take place over several years and the Bilan Carbone® then includes all the associated data and emissions from the years of the project.
🔎 To express the Bilan Carbone® in coherence with analytical carbon accounting, the temporal boundary considers a complete financial year, best reflecting the organisation's activity as a whole.
🔎If the Bilan Carbone® must be used for reporting of the Regulatory GHG Assessment, the temporal boundary considered shall be one year (the 'reporting year).
Do you have a comprehension question? Consult the FAQ. The method is living and therefore likely to evolve (clarifications, additions): find the track of changes here.
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