How is Bilan Carbone® integrated within a low-carbon transition approach?
What is the place of Bilan Carbone® in a transition pathway?
The low-carbon transition approaches are multiple, with a common objective. Transition pathways adapt to the profile and maturity of each organisation, but also to territories, states, individuals, projects, or products, with various tools, methods and regulations available to them.
The Bilan Carbone® is a comprehensive method that intervenes at several stages in a transition approach, seeking to feed an organisation's strategy. The Bilan Carbone® allows both to account for carbon, voluntarily or regulatory, while being resolutely action-oriented.
To position the role and interest of the Bilan Carbone® within a low-carbon transition approach, the following are presented below:
The place of the Bilan Carbone® within the different scales of carbon accounting or how the Bilan Carbone® integrates at the organisational, territorial, individual, or product scale.
The place of the Bilan Carbone® among current organisational carbon accounting standards, that is a comparison of the Bilan Carbone® with other recognised standards, in order to highlight its specificities and complementarities.
The place of the Bilan Carbone® in regulations or how the Bilan Carbone® meets legal and regulatory requirements in terms of accounting and reporting carbon.
The place of the Bilan Carbone® in its transition pathway in order to illustrate how the Bilan Carbone® integrates into an organisation's overall low-carbon transition pathway, from emissions analysis to implementation and continuous improvement of reduction actions within the framework of a genuine transition strategy.
1️⃣ The different scales of carbon accounting
In the context of carbon accounting, four main scales are generally distinguished:
Territories : this scale applies to a specific geographic region, such as a city, a region or a country. It includes the organisations located there, the individuals living there, and therefore all activities taking place there. Two complementary methods exist: one focuses on the GHG emissions produced strictly within the territory (inventory or cadastral approach). The other also accounts for indirect emissions produced outside the territory but necessary for its functioning and the activities taking place there (footprint or responsibility approach). As with organisations, the cadastral approach deals with emissions to which the territory is a direct contributor—occurring within it—whereas the footprint approach allows conclusions on the territory's dependence on fossil fuels and its vulnerability to the challenges of the low-carbon transition.
Individuals : this scale focuses on the GHG emissions attributable to a person's activities. A reference method frames the estimation method of an individual's footprint in order to provide comprehensive and educational information on their climate contribution and levers for action.
Products : this scale assesses the GHG emissions associated with a product (good or service) throughout its life cycle, from design to end of life. Several complementary methods focus on the specific carbon footprint of products. ABC notably conducts work with its partners to better integrate the product footprint within transition strategies.
Organisations : this scale concerns the GHG emissions induced by all the activities of an organisation, whether it is a company, an association or a public establishment. The activities taken into account by organisational carbon accounting are included within an boundary organisational. Several complementary methods complementary methods focus on the carbon footprint of organisations.
The present method focuses on the organisational scale. Thus it is referred to as Bilan Carbone® Organisation.
⏳[WIP] The methodological principles of the Bilan Carbone® Organisation also apply to Product or Territory approaches. They will be the subject of additional reflections over the coming years.
All these scales of accounting are relevant, allowing adaptation to the responsibilities, dependencies, and specific levers for action of each of these stakeholders.
2️⃣ The place of the Bilan Carbone® among current organisational carbon accounting standards
Among the most recognised current standards in organisational carbon accounting, one finds:
The Regulatory method for carrying out GHG emission assessments, in France (BEGES-R)*
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG-P)
ISO 14064-1:2006 and ISO 14069:2013 (ISO)
*the BEGES-R is a regulation associated with a method, so it will also be discussed in the following paragraph which concerns regulations.
The Bilan Carbone® and these standards present similarities, complementarities but also specificities.
These standards respond to complementary uses : the GHG-P and the ISO standards are generally used for reporting outside France, and the BEGES-R for reporting in France. The Bilan Carbone® makes it possible to produce these reports, in the formats required by the different standards, but also to produce a strategic analysis of the organisation (notably vulnerabilities and transition opportunities) as well as to trigger and steer its low-carbon transition.
The Bilan Carbone® method is compatible aligned with the expectations of the GHG-P, the BEGES-R, and ISO 14064-1. Conversely, following these standards will not necessarily meet the requirements of the Bilan Carbone®: these standards may recommend, without requiring, several essential steps of the Bilan Carbone® (notably on uncertainty management, on accounting for indirect emissions, on stakeholder engagement or on the relevance of the transition plan).
The deliverables Bilan Carbone® are consistent with the information requested by the other standards. The export of results and the format of these deliverables may nevertheless differ. The Bilan Carbone® reporting establishes the necessary correspondence links allowing the Bilan Carbone® method to be followed and toextract the results in multiple formats. Precautions may, however, be necessary (for example work in significance to follow the philosophy of ISO or BEGES-R, not to depreciate fixed assets in the case of the GHG-P). The precautions to be identified are specified where appropriate.
An important specificity of the Bilan Carbone® lies in its positioning as a approach complete, in which carbon accounting is only one step. Unlike other carbon accounting standards, the Bilan Carbone® method also emphasises stakeholder engagement and action planning. The granular requirements of the method allow the organisation to gain maturity at each renewal of the exercise, in a progressive logic and a long-term approach, until becoming an environmental management tool.
The boundary to be considered in a Bilan Carbone® also includes emissions on which the organisation is dependent. This allows strategic action on the organisation's vulnerabilities. It is not about determining a responsible party for emissions, but rather identifying who can act to reduce them.
Some calculation procedures differ and must be applied with caution:
Emissions associated with energy consumption are calculated with a location-based approach in the Bilan Carbone® and the BEGES-R. ISO includes the possibility of doing so also according to a market-based approach. The GHG-P requires calculating both approaches.
Emissions associated with capitalisable goods must be depreciated in the Bilan Carbone® and the BEGES-R. The GHG-P requests not to depreciate these emissions. ISO leaves the choice between the two possibilities.
The emission categories are very similar between these standards, with nevertheless two specificities: ISO includes “GHG removals”; and the GHG-P does not include “visitor travel”.
These calculation procedures are outlined in the practical guides. It should be noted that it is possible to follow the Bilan Carbone® method, and to export the results, according to other standards, by applying these calculation principles.
The table below is a summary of similarities and specificities between the Bilan Carbone® and other current organisational carbon accounting standards:
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3️⃣ The place of the Bilan Carbone® with respect to regulations
The Bilan Carbone® seeks to align regulatory obligation and voluntary engagement of all actors in French and European society, so that a voluntary approach can bring benefits relative to a future obligation, but also that an obliged actor can go further and do more than the regulatory requirement.
The Bilan Carbone® Organisation thus makes it possible to meet, in terms of carbon accounting, two regulations in particular:
The Regulatory method for carrying out GHG emission assessments, in France (BEGES-R)*
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)
The French regulation
The Bilan Carbone® method is compatible with the expectations of the regulation:
The Bilan Carbone® of Beginner level meets the regulation on all points.
The Bilan Carbone® of Intermediate level and Advanced level require more.
🔎 Since theevolution of regulation in France in 2023, there is a very strong correspondence between the philosophies of the Bilan Carbone® and the BEGES-R which now also requires emission management (complete inventory also covering significant emissions, analytical commentary on results, renewal of the assessment and comparison of assessments between the base year and the reporting year).
The Bilan Carbone® retains several complementary specificities (approach logic, or strategic analysis logic for example), complemented by the training, tools and community that support this method.
The Bilan Carbone® allows carbon accounting on a flexible boundary and time step (for example a project, an event, a construction site). If an organisation subject to the regulation wishes to use the Bilan Carbone®, two major precautions must be taken:
The temporal boundary must be a full year of activity (reporting year).
The organisational boundary must be that of the Legal Entity subject to the regulation (SIREN).
The CSRD
Following the Bilan Carbone® approach, at its highest level of requirement, makes it possible to meet a large part of the requirements of the ESRS E1 standard of the CSRD, which concerns climate change:
The Bilan Carbone® of Beginner level and Standard do not meet all the requirements of the CSRD (ESRS E1).
The Bilan Carbone® of Advanced level covers the majority of the requirements, listed here.
⏳[WIP] A correspondence table will soon be made available listing the data points (specific information that the organisation is required to disclose under the CSRD) that a Bilan Carbone® approach at Advanced level will allow to complete.
CSRD declarations require an audit by an independent third-party body. ABC and the National Council of the Order of Chartered Accountants have drafted an evaluation guide of a Bilan Carbone®, a BEGES-R and an exercise specific to the CSRD so that evaluation practices are common and shared, to continually seek greater synergies and clarify transition issues for all organisations.
4️⃣ The Bilan Carbone® in a low-carbon transition approach
An organisation encounters several needs throughout its maturity growth on transition issues:
Knowing its context : What are the demands of its stakeholders? What are its regulatory obligations? What are the best practices in its sector? An organisation first needs to motivate its transition action. Several resources are available, notably the sectoral guides from ADEME, but also the content provided by ABC. The Bilan Carbone® here proposes defining several boundaries (organisational, operational, temporal) in order to size the exercise appropriately with regard to the organisation's context. A risk and transition opportunities analysis is required within the Bilan Carbone® framework in order to begin the work of developing a long-term vision for the organisation's low-carbon transition.
Knowing its emissions profile (GHG profile): what are the emission categories? how are they articulated? what is the priority or priorities for the organisation in terms of reduction? The international standards but also the French regulation offer methods and reporting formats on this issue, for reporting purposes. The Bilan Carbone® goes further, supporting the organisation from data collection to the production of the GHG profile and its interpretation. Several sectoral variants of the Bilan Carbone® allow organisations in the sectors concerned to focus on sector-specific issues. The Bilan Carbone® also proposes stakeholder engagement activities to communicate the initial conclusions and encourage action. The Bilan Carbone® offers a voluntary audit process to ensure optimal quality of its results and the actions that follow.
Develop and evaluate a transition strategy : how to define reduction objectives? how to create a transition plan that will allow these objectives to be reached? how to integrate this transition plan into the organisation's overall strategy? how to monitor and improve the organisation's carbon accounting approach? Several methods and tools are complementary here to address all these issues: the Science-Based Targets initiative supports large companies to define objectives that allow compliance with theParis Agreement and the recommendations of the IPCC ; Empreinte Projets is the new version of Quanti GES carried by ADEME, aiming to estimate the impact of a project; ACT Step by Step and ACT Evaluation, two sister approaches supported by ADEME in France and internationally, make it possible to create and evaluate a transition strategy consistent with the GHG profile, ambitious and credible across all aspects of the organisation. The Bilan Carbone® links with these approaches so that the organisation can easily use the carbon accounting work and the transition plan within these four approaches. The Bilan Carbone® becomes for the most mature organisations the steering tool for the transition trajectory.
Understand the different possibilities for action in favour of the transition: what is the point of developing new low-carbon goods and services? how to integrate sequestration within the organisation's strategy? The Bilan Carbone® relies on the principles of the Net Zero Initiative, designing climate action in three forms : reduction of emissions “at home” (what the Bilan Carbone® organisation allows) - Pillar A, reduction of emissions “elsewhere” via new goods & services - Pillar B - and increasing GHG sequestration within natural spaces or via capture and storage technologies - Pillar C. These three forms of carbon accounting are not interchangeable, because an organisation should maximise its action on all three pillars simultaneously. Note that efforts made on Pillar B and C are also valued in the evaluation approaches of transition strategies, notably ACT.
Make its engagement in the transition known: What should I communicate to highlight my transition action? How can I communicate it and to whom? Many institutions now ask organisations to publish their GHG assessment, whether for investors (such as CDP), the State (regulation BEGES-R), the European Commission (CSRD), their clients who produce their own GHG assessment or who want to select engaged suppliers. While each stakeholder will tend to request different information, the Bilan Carbone® strives to provide a methodological and technical framework synthesising the expectations of each reference in order to facilitate the organisation's reporting.
The transition pathway is non-linear. Each of these approaches feeds the organisation's reflection and helps it gain maturity. Pathways are multiple, and in a logic of cycle, continuous improvement and renewal, the Bilan Carbone® meets the need for regular steering of emissions and results.
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⏳[WIP] The third ABC panorama on the different transition pathways will be updated in September 2024 and will detail the different tools and methods available.
Do you have a comprehension question? Consult the FAQ. The method is living and therefore likely to evolve (clarifications, additions): find the tracking of changes here.
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