0.1 - Objectives and principles of Bilan Carbone®
What objectives and principles must Bilan Carbone® meet?
Bilan Carbone® subscribes to the objectives of low-carbon transition approaches in general. The section below presents the specific objectives and principles of Bilan Carbone®.
Objectives of Bilan Carbone®
Stakeholder engagement the organisation's internal and external stakeholders in a transition approach, through awareness raising, empowerment, coconstruction and the reporting of transformations enabled by the transition plan.
Accounting for as rigorously and exhaustively as possible the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the organisation, whether they are direct or indirect, covering the responsibility and dependency boundaries of the organisation.
To develop a Transition Plan and a plan to reduce GHG emissions and the organisation's vulnerabilities that is ambitious, manageable, operational, and coherent with the emissions accounting.
Bilan Carbone® is not just an administrative process, a standard or an excellence reporting: it is the most reliable means to steer the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Anna CRETI, 2024, President of the ABC
The Bilan Carbone® approach can be applied to an organisation, a product or a territory. This methodology deals only with Bilan Carbone® Organisation.
⏳[WIP] The methodological principles of Bilan Carbone® Organisation also apply to Product or Territory approaches. They are not presented here and will be the subject of further reflection over the coming years.
These objectives are broken down into several levels according to the maturity of the organisation concerned in terms of carbon accounting and low-carbon transition strategy. Organisations are encouraged to meet the requirements through continuous improvement and to advance in maturity level, notably when renewing the Bilan Carbone®.
Let us recall here that with Bilan Carbone® we do not measure an organisation's responsibility for global warming; we identify its potential for action to best dimension its transition plan. The objective is to transform the organisation to adapt it to the low-carbon world of tomorrow.
Principles of Bilan Carbone®
Bilan Carbone® enables a strategic analysis of GHG emissions. To do so, it adheres to the following principles:
Low-carbon strategy : the approach seeks to add a mitigation dimension to the organisation's strategy
Long-term vision : the approach contributes to defining a long-term low-carbon transition vision for the organisation
Anticipation : the approach encourages anticipating upcoming changes
Pragmatism : the approach requires remaining pragmatic about the results obtained, which are not always those anticipated beforehand.
In addition, in order to offer excellence in reporting, Bilan Carbone® adheres to the following principles:
Coherence : the approach is coherent with current issues, i.e. with national and international strategies to combat climate change (National Low Carbon Strategy, Paris Agreement, …), and promotes the emergence of a low-carbon society.
Accuracy : the biases and uncertainties inherent in the approach are identified, quantified and reduced to the maximum.
Significance : the approach seeks to cover as many emissions as possible, and to prioritise action on all so-called significant emissions.
Evaluation : the approach shall result in outcomes that can be evaluated, notably through the evaluation of a Bilan Carbone®. This procedure is optional, but shall be applicable to all requirements of the approach.
Transparency : the approach shall be sufficiently transparent, and the results obtained shall be published on the platform of the Observatory of Carbon Accounting in France (OCCF).
Use of the Bilan Carbone® logo is conditional on compliance with these principles.
Bilan Carbone® is compatible with other existing methodologies, including the main ones such as ISO 14064-1-2:2019, the GHG Protocol or national regulations (it complies with French regulation, and therefore with the Regulatory GHG Assessment). Bilan Carbone® in its third maturity level (Advanced level) covers the major part of CSRD ESRS E1. Bilan Carbone® results are usable within these frameworks.
Do you have a question about understanding? Consult the FAQ. The method is living and therefore likely to evolve (clarifications, additions): find the tracking of changes here.
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