Glossary

What are the acronyms and terms used by the method?

A

Process improvement action

Actions allowing to take a step back from the completed Bilan Carbone®. This may concern assessing compliance with the Bilan Carbone® principles, improving data collection to gain precision and reduce uncertainties, increasing maturity level, and taking into account feedback regarding the mobilisation carried out by the organisation.

Adaptation actions

Actions in the short and medium term allowing adaptation to the consequences of climate change to ensure the organisation's resilience and survival. They respond to the issues raised by theidentification of risks and opportunities. These actions primarily concern the Standard and Advanced levels.

Stakeholder engagement action

Association of a stakeholder engagement phase (awareness raising, empowerment, coconstruction, or reporting), at a stage, targeting one or more audiences, with a more or less specific adaptation of messages depending on the organisation's profile.

Immediate actions

Actions in the short term, which make it possible to launch the action plan and motivate teams. These actions can be implemented without major difficulties and within a short timeframe

Priority actions

Actions in the short/medium term that allow a strong reduction of emissions, since they directly concern significant emission categories.

Strategic actions

Actions in the medium and long term concerning the organisation's overall strategy and business model and which therefore enable a strong reduction in the organisation's carbon and economic vulnerability.

ADEME, French Public Agency for Ecological Transition

ADEME, French Public Agency for Ecological Transition (formerly Agency for the Environment and Energy Management), is a public institution participating in the implementation of public policies in the fields of environment, energy and sustainable development.

🔗For more information on ADEME, here is its website.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

Method for assessing environmental footprint, multi-criteria and multi-stage, across the whole life cycle.

Base year

Year, established at the time of the first assessment, to which each new assessment is compared. It remains the same from one assessment exercise to another, unless needed (Example: activity changes drastically).

Reporting year

Year to which the activity data collected to establish the GHG emissions assessment relate.

It therefore consists of 12 consecutive months, on a calendar or fiscal year depending on the organisation's practices.

Association

Agreement by which two or more persons pool, on a permanent basis, their knowledge or activity for a purpose other than sharing profits. (Source Legifrance)

An association is therefore an organisation, in the sense of the Bilan Carbone® and its organisational boundary.

Association of Professionals in Climate, Energy and Environment Consulting (APCC)

The Association of Professionals in Climate, Energy and Environment Consulting brings together actors who carry out consulting missions and support private and public organisations on a daily basis on all topics related to climate issues, the transition of structures towards a low-carbon mode, as well as on topics related to sustainable mobility.

The APCC's objective is to contribute to the transition to an economy with low climate impact, more frugal in energy consumption and more respectful of the environment.

It focuses on the role of organisations (companies, local authorities, public establishments) in this transition. Indeed, organisations have a major role to play in addressing climate, energy and environmental issues.

On a daily basis, the objective is carried by 3 main missions, which guide all actions:

Represent the companies that support and advise companies, local authorities and public establishments on a daily basis on issues related to climate change, to carry their voice to bodies and stakeholders such as the Ministry of Ecological Transition, ADEME, the ABC …
Place our members in a process of exchange and continuous improvement, to enable them to be ever more relevant in their professions.
Inform, explain, provide keys and disseminate good practices to organisations on topics related to climate change and sustainable mobility, to push them to act and enable them to act concretely.

🔗 For more information on the Association of Professionals in Climate, Energy and Environment Consulting, here is its website.

Self assessment

Monitoring of theevaluation of a Bilan Carbone® internally and autonomously, based on the freely accessible evaluation guide. The self assessment therefore does not call upon the evaluation process by an accredited evaluator (trained and certified).

A self assessment allows internal use: target whether certain criteria of the targeted maturity levels are met or not, progress in continuous improvement, check the relevance of launching an external evaluation, confirm internal maturity and therefore the interest of proceeding with complementary low-carbon transition approaches.

A self assessment does not allow declaring the Bilan Carbone® approach as evaluated, nor to externally communicate the obtained result.

Analytical dimensions

The analytical axis, in accounting, designates the variables used to measure the different production costs. It works like a marker used to filter similar entries and retrieve groups for analysis purposes. Analytical dimensions are inherent to management accounting. They support strategic decisions by providing a level of detail to accounting data.

Analytical dimensions can be of different types. At the scale of a company or group, an analytical axis allows, for example, the categorisation of:

The company's activities,
The physical sites,
The legal organisation (subsidiaries, franchisees)
The human organisation (teams, employees),
The projects,
The products or services,
The suppliers,
The customers.

For each of these axes, analytical codes define the possible values.

Analytical dimensions can be used in the Bilan Carbone® for analytical carbon accounting, building a view or a nomenclature used for the operational boundary, to allocate emissions in the GHG profile, etc. They correspond to the division of emissions by responsible parties, in order to build a transition plan with multiple levels of responsibility within the organisation.

Analytical dimensions are not always present in an organisation's accounting (they sometimes do not have an analytical plan). However, even without a formalised analytical plan, the organisation sometimes has a view of its costs and budgets by axes (supplier, client, project, site, team, etc.). These axes will be used by analytical carbon accounting because they are those that allow steering the organisation.

B

Low carbon

Qualifies the ambition to contribute to the mitigation of climate change at a level consistent with the objectives of the 2015 Paris Agreement, or with future global political agreements likely to replace the Paris Agreement in the years to come. A decarbonisation strategy, for example, is low carbon (or “aligned with the low-carbon pathway”) if the strategy's objectives, which include carbon performance targets, are commensurate with this level of ambition.

(Source ACT Step by Step)

Emission factor database

Documentation of emission factors that can be used in Bilan Carbone® calculations. There are several databases detailed in the annex. The Base Empreinte® of ADEME remains the preferred option, except in specific cases (Example: calculation of specific EFs for an organisation's case study assessment).

C

Characterisation

Characterisation does not directly affect the Bilan Carbone® since it does not influence the calculation results. It only changes the way emissions will be aggregated in the different exports (BEGES-R, ISO 14064, GHG-P), to assign the various emission sources considered within the Bilan Carbone® to the correct categories and subcategories of other carbon accounting methods.

The organisation will generally have to characterise these emission sources. This characterisation depends on the mode of control (operational, financial, ...) chosen by the organisation.

In operational control, for example, an emission source can generally be characterised as "Operated" or "Non Operated", or "Supported or Not Supported". For more details, the organisation should refer to the various relevant methods.

Emission category

Set of GHG emission categories. Two emission categories are distinguished: direct emissions and indirect emissions.

The semantics of emission categories is mainly used for standards other than the Bilan Carbone® (such as ISO 14064-1 or BEGES-R). Some correspondence links are possible.

Evaluation lead

Person trained (according to the training offered by the ABC and its partners) and certified in theevaluation of assessments, who leads the evaluation of a given assessment, ensures its proper conduct and produces the final evaluation report. They may be accompanied by various experts depending on the complementary skills required for the proper execution of the evaluation process.

CO2 equivalent (CO2eq)

Unit allowing comparison of the radiative forcing of a GHG to that of carbon dioxide, calculated using the mass of a given GHG multiplied by its Global Warming Potential (GWP), provided by the IPCC (adapted from the standard NF- ISO 14064-1:2018).

Coconstruction

This is a phase of stakeholder engagement in the sense of the Bilan Carbone®:

The main aim of coconstruction is to value initiatives, sharing and consultation. Coconstruction is central and is therefore closely linked to other types of mobilisation: consulted stakeholders must have a sufficient level of information about the approach, which requires prior awareness raising and effective outreach, as well as transparent reporting and communication. Coconstruction gives a voice and enables participation, which helps to empower. It identifies the carbon reduction avenues that the organisation and its stakeholders can envisage, based on their knowledge (of the process, the product, the organisation).

Objective : Confront the choice of actions with real possibilities and potential alternatives, in order to arrive at a transition plan perceived as a common project by the organisation and its stakeholders.

Indicator : Level of participation in the coconstruction of the transition plan.

Compatibility

Here the capacity of the Bilan Carbone® to be used to meetother frameworks. The notion of “compatibility with” does not guarantee reciprocity.

Carbon offsetting

Mechanism to fully or partially compensate an organisation's GHG emissions, which can be triggered directly by a process located outside the organisation's operational boundary, or indirectly by the purchase of GHG reductions in the form of carbon credits, made by a third party (adapted from the standard NF-ISO 14069:2013).

Accounting

Process of collecting and exploiting the various data necessary to carry out a Bilan Carbone®.

Consultant

Person external to the organisation, who advises, directs and guides the approach.

Assessment review

Carry out an inspection of the state of an assessment with regard to the requirements of a standard.

Control (Mode of)

The standard ISO 14064-1 or the BEGES-R describe two approaches to determine the organisational boundary:

The “share of capital” approach: installations and equipment are included in the organisational boundary in proportion to the participation held in them.
The “control” approach: International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) define “control” as "the power to direct the financial and operating policies of an entity so as to obtain benefits from its activities".
- Financial control: 100% of the equipment and installations over which it exercises financial control are included in the organisational boundary. An entity has financial control of an operation if it is able to direct the financial and operating policies of the operation with a view to obtaining economic benefits from its activities (source: NF - ISO 14064-1:2018).
- Operational control : 100% of the equipment and installations over which it exercises operational control, i.e. that it operates, are included in the organisational boundary. An entity has operational control of an operation if that entity, or one of its subsidiaries, has full authority to implement and enforce its operating policies at the operational level (source: NF - ISO 14064-1:2018).

The Bilan Carbone® uses the “operational control” approach to define the organisational boundary.

Coordinator

The Bilan Carbone® coordinator pilots the approach. They can be an internal person or external to the organisation.

D

Monitoring system

A monitoring system, such as a dashboard, makes it possible to track the action plan's actions and the indicators. It is filled in periodically internally by the Bilan Carbone® lead. A tool is provided by the ABC with the tools of version 9 of the Bilan Carbone® method, but alternatives are accepted.

The use of this system does not imply imposed modalities of discussion around monitoring; these are at the organisation's discretion.

This tool also allows the recalculation of significant emissions, which serve as performance indicators of the transition plan.

Documentation

Process similar to the presentation intended for internal use only. It aims at the continuous improvement of carbon accounting within the organisation. Documentation is useful for future handovers and renewals.

Activity data

Quantitative measure of a given activity causing GHG emissions or removals (adapted from the standard NF ISO 14064-1:2018).

Activity data can be actual (physical or accounting), extrapolated, statistical or estimated.

E

Standard deviation and geometric standard deviation

The standard deviation and the geometric standard deviation are two statistical measures used to assess the dispersion or variability of data.

The standard deviation is a measure of dispersion for additive or normalized data (for a normal distribution), while the geometric standard deviation is suited to multiplicative data or for a log-normal distribution.

Carbon accounting scale

In carbon accounting, four main scales are generally distinguished: Territory, Individual, Product, Organisation. More details in the introduction.

Direct GHG emissions

GHG emissions from sources owned or controlled by the legal entity / organisation (adapted from the standard NF-ISO 14064-1/2018).

To be distinguished from indirect emissions.

Indirect GHG emissions

GHG emissions that result from the operations and activities of the legal entity / organisation but originate from GHG sources not owned or controlled by it (adapted from the standard NF-ISO 14064-1:2018).

To be distinguished from direct emissions.

Induced emissions

Direct and indirect GHG emissions in the organisation's value chain.

The Bilan Carbone® quantifies and acts on induced emissions.

See definition of Pillar A.

To be distinguished from avoided and sequestered emissions.

Avoided emissions

Reductions in emissions by other stakeholders, through an organisation's activities, products and/or services. These reductions therefore occur outside its operational boundary. They are assessed relative to a baseline scenario.

Within the Bilan Carbone®: an organisation can determine the GHG emissions avoided by an activity. The organisation must not deduct these avoided emissions from total emissions, but may account for them and, where appropriate, report them separately.

See definition of Pillar B.

To be distinguished from induced and sequestered emissions.

Significant emissions

Within the operational boundary of an organisation, it is accepted that certain sources of indirect GHG emissions do not contribute significantly to the total of indirect emissions and can, in some cases, be excluded from the assessment. Significant emissions are then the GHG emissions quantified and reported by an organisation, in accordance with the materiality significance criteria defined by the organisation (concept derived from theISO 14064-1 and the BEGES-R).

Sequestered emissions or negative emissions

Absorption of GHGs present in the atmosphere, directly (carbon sinks owned by the organisation) or indirectly (through financing GHG sequestration projects).

Within the Bilan Carbone®: an organisation can identify GHG sinks and reservoirs that capture and concentrate GHGs to prevent their release into the atmosphere (forest growth, soil preservation, etc.). The organisation must not deduct these sequestered or negative emissions from total emissions, but may account for them and, where appropriate, report them separately.

See definition of Pillar C.

To be distinguished from induced and avoided emissions

Operated emissions and non-operated emissions

The accounted emissions can be characterised as:

So-called “operated” emissions are those directly generated by activities under an organisation's direct control. This includes emissions from the organisation's installations, its vehicle fleet, leased and used assets, etc. These emissions are considered as "direct emissions" in the emissions classification according to ISO 14064.
“Non-operated” emissions are those that arise from activities not directly under the organisation's control, but which are associated with its activities indirectly. This may include emissions generated by suppliers, upstream and downstream transport activities, etc. These emissions are generally classified as "indirect emissions" in the emissions classification.

These categories do not depend on the notion of ownership or leasing of emission sources by the organisation, but on operation and use.

These elements do not directly concern the Bilan Carbone® since they do not influence calculation results. This characterisation only modifies the way emissions will be aggregated in the different exports (BEGES-R, ISO 14064, GHG-P).

Supported emissions and unsupported emissions

The accounted emissions can be characterised as:

“Owned” emissions refer to the direct emissions of categories for which the organisation owns the assets or equipment. These emissions are considered as "direct emissions" in the emissions classification according to ISO 14064.
“Non-owned supported” emissions are categories for which the organisation does not own the assets or equipment but bears the costs. Supported emissions come from activities financed by the organisation. They therefore appear in accounting exports. These emissions are generally classified as "indirect emissions" in the emissions classification.
“Non-owned unsupported” emissions are categories for which the organisation neither owns the assets or equipment nor bears the costs. These emissions are generally classified as "indirect emissions" in the emissions classification.

These elements do not directly concern the Bilan Carbone® since they do not influence calculation results. These two characterisations only modifies the way emissions will be aggregated in the different exports (BEGES-R, ISO 14064, GHG-P).

Equipment

Vehicle, tool, machine or engine, fixed or mobile, which can be defined within a geographic boundary or an organisational entity.

In the context of a Bilan Carbone® and regardless of the targeted maturity level, 100% of the equipment and installations over which the organisation exercises operational control, i.e. operates and uses, must be included in the organisational boundary. Any other choice must be justified.

Evaluation team

Person(s) responsible for verifying and validating the assessment. The entire evaluation team is trained in the Bilan Carbone® method. The evaluation team is led by an evaluation lead. They are trained and certified in the evaluation of assessments.

The entire team meets the following skills and principles:

Evaluation expertise (training and certification)
Sectoral Bilan Carbone® expertise
Optional - Ability to provide limited assurance (participation in the process of a chartered accountant or statutory auditor. This is not mandatory, but provides another level of evaluation assurance)

Integrity
Impartiality
Professional conscience
Professional judgement

Establishment

An establishment of an organisation is generally designated by its SIRET (unique 14-digit identification code of an establishment of an organisation with a SIREN number). The first 9 digits of the SIRET number are the SIREN number of the organisation to which the establishment belongs.

Evaluation of an assessment

Process ensuring the reliability and transparency of assessments and their results. It also makes it possible to identify blocking points and improvements between two assessments of an organisation. The evaluation includes verification and validation of assessments.

The evaluation of the Bilan Carbone® follows the guidelines described in the Assessment evaluation guide. It is an optional procedure within the Bilan Carbone® approach.

Accounting exports

Accounting and analytical plans are stable over time for a given organisation without major structural changes.

At each accounting period, the organisation records all revenues and costs of its activity in accounting entries (debit or credit allocation). This accounting is done in accounting journals (e.g.: purchase journal, sales journal, bank journal…).

Different formats exist to export this accounting in its entirety:

The FEC (Accounting Entries File): a standardized accounting file, notably used by the French administration to perform tax audits on companies. It transcribes all accounting entries but does not include analytical entries.
The general ledger: a standardized accounting file, its structure is nonetheless configurable to some extent to allow the organisation to adapt its accounting to its needs. However, it does not allow analyses of the organisation's activity because it follows general accounting, its final objective being the preparation of annual accounts (balance sheet, income statement and notes).
The analytical ledger: a non-standardised accounting file, which nevertheless includes mandatory fields. It includes all analytical allocations and enables analytical analysis of the accounting.

This definition refers to the analytical carbon accounting guide.

F

GHG emission or removal factor (EF)

Coefficient relating activity data to GHG emissions or removals (standard NF-ISO 14064-1:2018).

An emission factor (EF) may come from databases, be developed by the organisation, or be a coefficient known as “spend-based” (specific or non-specific).

Radiative forcing

It is the difference between the solar energy received by the Earth and the energy radiated back to space caused by a change in factors influencing the climate. This measure is expressed in watts per square meter (W/m²). This measure is currently positive, the incoming energy being greater than the outgoing energy: this is referred to as global warming.

G

Greenhouse gases (GHGs)

Gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, natural or anthropogenic, that absorb and emit radiation at specific wavelengths in the infrared spectrum emitted by the Earth's surface, atmosphere and clouds. This property causes the greenhouse effect.

Water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) and ozone (O3) are the natural greenhouse gases of the Earth's atmosphere.

There are a large number of anthropogenic greenhouse gases, such as halocarbons and other substances containing chlorine or bromine, grouped under the Montreal Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol includes CO2, N2O, CH4, SF6, NF3, HFCs and PFCs (adapted from the Fifth IPCC report – CLIMATE CHANGE 2013 The Physical Science Basis, p1455).

Governance

Framework aimed at defining how to control the different stages of the approach optimally.

Within the Bilan Carbone®, the organisation must establish internal leadership and governance enabling the completion of the approach and the achievement of associated criteria. The organisation must ensure that participants have the necessary methodological skills and are trained in the use of the tools employed, as well as in the design and implementation of transition plans.

H

Time horizon

Deadlines of a transition objective : generally short, medium or long term.

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)

Hydrofluorocarbons are a family of gases composed only of hydrogen, carbon and fluorine atoms. They are GHGs included in the Kyoto Protocol.

I

Uncertainty

Parameter associated with the result of a quantification that characterises the dispersion of values that can reasonably be attributed to the quantified quantity (standard NF-ISO 14064-1:2018).

Estimates and measurements inherently involve a margin of error; the vast majority of scientific methods tend to associate values called uncertainties with measurement or estimation results. These uncertainties make it possible to derive a 95% confidence interval, i.e. an interval [Value 1; Value 2] within which the true value of what is measured or estimated has a 95% chance of lying.

The Bilan Carbone method allows determining uncertainties qualitatively and quantitatively.

Inflation

Inflation corresponds to a general increase in the prices of goods and services in an economy.

Installation

Material element (building, roadway or other type of infrastructure) or production process that can be defined within a geographic boundary or an organisational unit.

Confidence interval

A confidence interval is an interval intended to contain an unknown parameter that one seeks to estimate. A confidence interval is constructed by a method from data. The constructed interval may or may not contain the true value of the unknown parameter. It is assigned a confidence level often expressed as a percentage: the most common is the 95% level. This means that the method has a 95% chance of producing an interval containing the true value of the unknown parameter.

D

Deliverables

Set of pieces, documents and information obtained at each step of the approach, compiled for the Reporting.

Log-normal distribution

A random variable X is said to follow a log-normal distribution with parameters $\mu$ and $\sigma ^{2}$ if the variable $Y=\ln(X)$ follows a normal distribution with mean $\mu$ and variance $\sigma ^{2}$ .

Normal distribution

A normal distribution is an absolutely continuous probability distribution that depends on two parameters: its mean, a real number denoted μ, and its standard deviation, a positive real number denoted σ. The probability density of the normal distribution with mean μ and standard deviation σ is given by:

$f(x)={\frac {1}{\sigma {\sqrt {2\pi }}}}\operatorname {e} ^{-{\frac {1}{2}}\left({\frac {x-\mu }{\sigma }}\right)^{2}}$ .

The curve of this density is called the Gaussian curve or bell curve, among others. It is the most well-known representation of these distributions.

M

Data collection matrix

Summary of all activity data and emission factors used during the accounting process, serving as the organisation's documentation (sources, assumptions, uncertainties, value and unit).

Stakeholder engagement action

Mobilisation here refers to all the processes that will lead the organisation to convey the right messages to the right audiences. It continues throughout the Bilan Carbone® approach.

To achieve mobilisation, the Bilan Carbone® approach involves outreach the issues to raise awareness, empower the stakeholders, consult, then reported and communicate the results.

O

Objectives of the approach

The Bilan Carbone® approach has three main objectives:

Mobilise the organisation's internal and external stakeholders in a transition approach, through awareness raising, empowerment, coconstruction and reporting of the transformations enabled by the transition plan.
Account as rigorously and comprehensively as possible the organisation's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, whether direct or indirect, covering the organisation's responsibility and dependency boundaries.
To develop a transition plan and GHG emissions and organisation vulnerability reduction plan that is ambitious, controllable, operational, and consistent with the emissions accounting.

Objective of the transition plan

Results that the organisation intends to achieve over a given period, thanks to its transition plan.

Within the Bilan Carbone® approach, they aim to reduce GHG emissions and enable the organisation to become more resilient. They are set at several time horizons : short, medium or long term. They are consistent with the organisation's overall objectives and integrated into its overall strategy.

OCCF

Observatory of Carbon Accounting in France.

🔗 More information in the bibliography.

Climate Shadow

See Bibliography.

Organisation

Person or group of persons having a role with the responsibilities, authority and relationships enabling them to achieve their objectives (source ISO 14064-1).

Entity constituted as a capital company or having another status, private or public law, which has its own administrative and functional structure. (Example: company, association, local authority, public establishment, company, corporation, firm, authority, institution, or a part or combination of the preceding entities).

P

Stakeholders

Stakeholders around the organisation can be distributed as follows. They will be solicited at distinct phases of mobilisation.

Project team, internal leads
Management
Other internal collaborators (employees, staff, volunteers)
Upstream external stakeholders (suppliers)
Downstream external stakeholders (customers)
Other external stakeholders (financial and technical partners, local actors, professional federations, or other partners on strategic topics for the organisation such as education, innovation, development).

Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)

Perfluorocarbons are a family of gases composed only of carbon and fluorine atoms. They are GHGs included in the Kyoto Protocol.

Reporting boundary

Notion specific to a regulatory carbon accounting exercise of an organisation. It consists of the emissions contained within the operational boundary that will actually be accounted for in the Bilan Carbone® exercise. It may therefore be a part of the operational boundary.

Operational boundary

Set of emission sources taken into account during an organisation's carbon accounting exercise as well as their allocation by emission category.

Organisational boundary

Set of sites, installations and equipment taken into account during the organisation's carbon accounting exercise.

Temporal boundary

Specific time period for an organisation's carbon accounting exercise.

Legal entity

Organisation endowed with legal personality, identified by a SIREN number. Notion specific to a regulatory carbon accounting exercise of an organisation.

When the Bilan Carbone® is used for regulatory reporting, its organisational boundary must be that of a legal entity subject to the applicable regulation.

Pillar A

See definition of induced emissions.

To contribute to the overall reduction of emissions, an organisation must reduce its own direct and indirect emissions (pillar A) to the levels required by decarbonisation scenarios compatible with the Paris Agreement.

Except in exceptional cases, pillar A “reduction of the organisation's emissions” is prioritised over the other two pillars B and C, due to its role in the organisation's dependence on a system based on fossil fuels, and its influence on the risks and opportunities that the organisation will need to integrate into its strategy.

The Bilan Carbone® quantifies and acts on pillar A.

Pillar B

See definition of avoided emissions.

To contribute to the overall reduction of emissions, an organisation must reduce the emissions of others (pillar B). It then assesses and increases its contributions to third parties' decarbonisation:

Either through its distributed or sold products and services which substitute a more carbon-intensive solution for end customers
Or through financing emission reduction projects outside its value chain (purchases of certified emission reductions, direct equity stakes in low-carbon projects, low-carbon energy contracts under certain conditions, etc.)

The Bilan Carbone® methodology does not address avoided emissions.

Pillar C

See definition of sequestered or negative emissions.

To contribute to the global increase of carbon sequestration, the organisation must preserve and increase carbon sinks within or outside its value chain (pillar C). It assesses its contributions to the preservation and increase of global natural and technological carbon sinks:

Either in its value chain, by developing its own carbon sinks (direct absorptions) or those upstream (in its supply chain) and downstream (within customers or end-users)
Or outside its value chain, through its financing of sequestration projects (purchases of certified carbon sequestration, direct equity stakes in projects, etc.)

The Bilan Carbone® methodology does not address negative emissions.

General Carbon Plan (PCG)

General Carbon Plan

🔗 More information in the bibliography.

Action plan

Set of concrete actions envisaged and allowing the achievement of the transition plan's objectives. The action plan is established in the short term (until the next assessment renewal), even if some actions extend to the medium or long term. It is the operational translation of the transition plan and the organisation's low-carbon transition strategy.

Transition plan

A transition plan defines all the actions and means envisaged for reducing emissions related to an organisation's activities, and the evolution of those activities to make them compatible with a low-carbon world respectful of the Paris Agreement. (source ADEME).

Project lead

Person driving the development of the approach. Notion assimilated in the Bilan Carbone® to the coordinator or lead of the approach.

An action lead designates the driving person responsible for the implementation of a specific action.

Emission category

Grouping of GHG emissions from multiple 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.

Global Warming Potential (GWP)

Index based on the radiative properties of GHGs, measuring the radiative forcing following a pulse emission of one unit mass of a given GHG in the current atmosphere integrated over a chosen time horizon, relative to that of carbon dioxide (CO2) (source: NF- ISO 14064-1:2018).

GHG emissions profile

Aggregation of the quantified GHG emission results for all emission sources included within the organisation's boundaries.

The emission profile also refers to the allocation of quantified emissions according to a certain nomenclature (for example according to the Bilan Carbone® emission categories).

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and complements the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), whose participating countries meet once a year since 1995. It notably defines the different GHGs to be taken into account for these reductions:

Carbon dioxide, CO₂
Methane, CH₄
Nitrous oxide, N₂O
Sulfur hexafluoride, SF₆
The hydrofluorocarbons, HFCs
The perfluorocarbons, PFCs

GHG sink

Process removing a GHG from the atmosphere (standard NF-ISO 14064-1: 2018).

R

RACI

RACI stands for:

R: Performer (Responsible) – The person who performs the work to accomplish the task. These are the individuals who actually do the work or carry out the task.
A: Approver (Accountable) – The person who is accountable for the task. This person must approve or validate the completed work and ensure that objectives are met.
C: Consulted (Consulted) – The people who provide advice, feedback, or information necessary to accomplish the task. They are often experts or key stakeholders.
I: Informed (Informed) – The people who need to be kept informed of the progress or results of the task. They do not have an active role in accomplishing the task, but they need to know its status or results.

Spend-based emission factors

Emission factor presented as values in kgCO₂e/k€ spent. These EFs are derived from averages across many products, and are therefore associated with very high uncertainties.

Specific spend-based emission factors

Spend-based ratio created by the organization, for example, from the carbon accounting of its stakeholders (suppliers, ...).

Framework

Here refers to other carbon accounting methods, standards and regulations or low-carbon transition approaches.

French regulation on greenhouse gas emissions reporting (Regulatory GHG Assessment or BEGES-R)

Mechanism requiring organizations to carry out and regularly publish an assessment on a public platform.

🔗For more information on BEGES-R, refer to the Bibliography.

Empowerment

This is a phase of stakeholder engagement in the sense of the Bilan Carbone®:

The main challenge of empowerment is to give everyone a role in the approach. For stakeholders to become aware that every degree counts, that every action matters and therefore that every employee matters in implementing these actions. For the organization to realize that it is a question of sustainability. New responsibilities will emerge from the approach and will allow existing positions to be enhanced by taking into account an essential component related to the sustainability of the activity.

Objective : Involve and enable each stakeholder to get moving and take action.

Indicator : Level of participation in the approach and level of taking action.

Results presentation and reporting

Three result reports are framed by the Bilan Carbone® approach.

Reporting and communication

This is a phase of stakeholder engagement in the sense of the Bilan Carbone®:

The main challenge of reporting and communication is to enable the appropriation of results and actions by the relevant stakeholders. To link global issues, local issues, the organization's impacts, the role of stakeholders in these impacts, the resulting actions, and the role of stakeholders in the success of these actions.

Objective : Make this approach an initiative that goes beyond the project team to reach other concerned stakeholders (primarily internal employees) through the implementation of actions, in a logic of cross-functionality, cohesion, reputation and exemplarity.

Indicator : Level of knowledge and understanding of the results (impacts and actions)

Transition risks and opportunities

Transition risks, related to changes in our societies and economic models, are distributed across several categories:

Regulatory risks
Image and reputation risks
Market and technology risks

The opportunities that secure the organization's place in tomorrow's low-carbon world are of several types:

Reduction of resource consumption
Reduction of GHG emissions
Development of new products and services and innovations
Regulatory/financial incentives
Communication and image
Adaptation

Physical risks

Physical risks, directly related to climate change and its resulting consequences, are distributed across several categories:

Risks related to natural disasters and extreme climatic events becoming increasingly frequent and/or intense
Risks related to gradual changes in the climate.

S

Awareness and outreach

This is a phase of stakeholder engagement in the sense of the Bilan Carbone®:

The main challenge of awareness and outreach of the issues is to understand in order to act : strengthen the understanding of essential information around energy-climate issues, and bring people together around the approach to ensure better integration of the transition plan.

Objective : Create the necessary groundwork for good understanding of the issues, acceptance of change and future actions to be undertaken, and enable the organization to identify the risks and opportunities associated with the ecological transition.

Indicator : Level of knowledge and understanding of the issues.

Significance

🔎 The notion of significance originates from theISO 14064-1 and is taken up within the BEGES-R.

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

Materiality criterion : Indirect emission categories estimated to be substantial from a quantitative point of view should be retained. A minimal materiality threshold to consider is expressed as a percentage. It establishes the minimum proportion of the operational boundary's indirect emissions to be included in the reporting boundary. The materiality threshold must not be less than 80%. Note that the ISO 14064-1 standard designates by importance criterion the same notion.
Level of influence and action levers : the extent to which the organization can monitor and reduce emissions and removals (for example, energy efficiency, eco-design, customer engagement, terms of reference).
Strategic importance and vulnerability according to a risk or opportunity approach: concerns indirect emissions or removals that contribute to the organization's exposure to risks (for example, climate-related risks such as financial risks, regulatory risks, supply chain risks, product and customer risks, litigation risks, reputational risks) or to its business opportunities (new market or new business model, for example).
Sector-specific guidance : GHG emissions considered significant for the relevant sector of activity, according to sector-specific guidance.
Outsourcing : indirect emissions and removals resulting from outsourced activities which are generally core activities.
Staff engagement : indirect emissions likely to motivate employees to reduce their emissions or that foster team spirit around climate change.

GHG source or emission source

Physical unit or process releasing a GHG into the atmosphere (standard NF-ISO 14064-1:2018).

Low-carbon strategy or transition strategy

The organization's low-carbon transition strategy details the means envisaged to achieve the organization's objectives, while preserving, and ideally improving, its sustainability. The strategy covers material investments, intangible investments (such as R&D or skills), management and policy with all its stakeholders (employees, but also suppliers, customers). Within the Bilan Carbone® framework, the transition plan will lead the organization to evolve its operating model. As it progresses along the maturity pathway, the organization will be led to reflect on the relevance of its activities, products and services in a low-carbon world.

GHG removals

Reduction or removal of GHGs from the atmosphere, under the control of the organization, through GHG sinks (adapted from the standard NF-ISO 14064-1:2018).

T

Contrails

At high altitude, the water vapor emitted by aircraft engines can condense into fine ice particles, forming what are called contrails or "vapor trails". These trails can impact the climate by modifying the reflection of solar radiation (albedo) and by contributing to the formation of artificial clouds.

In addition to the CO2 emitted by fuel production and combustion, aircraft can affect the climate through other emissions and atmospheric processes, such as water vapor (H2O), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particles (aerosols) of sulfate and soot, or contrails. For the latter, although their contribution to the total climatic impact of aviation at the global scale (assessed on the basis of radiative forcing) is estimated at a minimum of 50%, significant uncertainties remain about their formation conditions per flight (dependent on altitude and various meteorological factors).

(Source Base Empreinte).

Transition pathway

Within the Bilan Carbone® framework, the trajectory is defined using a bottom-up approach: the GHG profile (current situation of the organization) and the reduction potentials of actions allow projecting an achievable trajectory (trend and evolution of emissions) that justifies the credibility of the objectives.

Triple bottom line (TBL or 3BL)

Accounting method that takes into account three main dimensions: economic, environmental and social. It aims to evaluate and report an organization's performance not only in financial terms, but also in terms of environmental impact and social contributions. This holistic approach enables a better understanding of the overall effects of an organization's activities on society and the planet.

Carbon accounting therefore provides indicators to be included in this triple bottom line accounting.

V

Validation

Assessment of effects not yet occurred, concerning the assessed report. For example: validation of the transition plan. Included in theevaluation.

Concept from theISO 17029 and ISO 14069.

Verification

Assessment of effects that have already occurred, within the assessed report. For example: verification of employee data used to calculate the GHG profile, verification of obtained results, verification of uncertainties, among others. Included in theevaluation.

Concept from theISO 17029 and ISO 14069.

Transition vision

It represents how the organization projects its place in a low-carbon world (long term, up to 2050). It does not require a detailed description within the Bilan Carbone® framework, but it allows projecting the organization's future strategy regarding climate.

Vulnerability or Climate Vulnerability

According to the IPCC report, climate risk is a combination of three factors: a "climate hazard" factor (the potential impact), an "exposure" factor (the probability of occurrence), and a "vulnerability" factor to that hazard (the severity).

Climate vulnerability is a key concept in risk assessment. It expresses the propensity of a subject of study to be impacted by a climatic hazard. It is the most difficult variable to estimate because it is strongly dependent on the company studied: its level of sensitivity to hazards and its capacity to adapt.

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Last updated 9 months ago