How to integrate the Bilan Carbone® within a low-carbon transition approach?
What is the place of the 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 organization, but also of 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, aiming to inform an organization's strategy. The Bilan Carbone® allows both to count carbon, voluntarily or regulatory, while being resolutely action-oriented.
To position the role and relevance of the Bilan Carbone® in a low-carbon transition approach, the following are presented below:
The place of the Bilan Carbone® within the different carbon accounting scales or how the Bilan Carbone® integrates at the organizational, territorial, individual, or product scale.
The place of the Bilan Carbone® among current organizational carbon accounting standards, that is a comparison of the Bilan Carbone® with other recognized 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® fits into an organization's overall low-carbon transition pathway, from emissions analysis to implementation and continuous improvement of reduction actions within the framework of a real transition strategy.
1️⃣ The different carbon accounting scales
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 organizations located there, the individuals living there, and therefore all the activities taking place there. Two complementary methods exist: one focuses on the GHG emissions produced strictly on the territory (inventory or cadastral approach). The other also accounts for indirect emissions produced outside the territory but necessary for its functioning and for the activities taking place there (footprint or responsibility approach). As with organizations, the cadastral approach is concerned with emissions for which the territory is directly responsible - occurring within it - whereas the footprint approach allows conclusions about 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 method for estimating 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 product footprint into transition strategies.
Organizations : this scale concerns the GHG emissions induced by all the activities of an organization, whether it is a company, an association or a public establishment. The activities taken into account by organizational carbon accounting are included within an boundary organizational. Several complementary methods complementary methods focus on the carbon footprint of organizations.
The present method focuses on the organizational scale. This is referred to as Bilan Carbone® Organization.
⏳[WIP] The methodological principles of the Bilan Carbone® Organization are also applied to Product or Territory approaches. They will be the subject of further reflection in the coming years.
All these accounting scales are relevant, allowing adaptation to the responsibilities, dependencies, and specific levers of action of each of these stakeholders.
2️⃣ The place of the Bilan Carbone® among current organizational carbon accounting standards
Among the most recognized current standards for organizational carbon accounting, one finds:
The regulatory method for carrying out GHG emissions 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 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 organization (notably vulnerabilities and transition opportunities) as well as to trigger and steer its low-carbon transition.
The Bilan Carbone® method is compatible 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 indispensable 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 formalism of these deliverables may nevertheless differ. The presentation of the Bilan Carbone® draws the necessary mappings allowing the Bilan Carbone® method to be followed and toextract the results in several formats. Precautions may however be necessary (for example working in significance to follow the philosophy of ISO or BEGES-R, not amortizing fixed assets in the case of the GHG-P). The precautions to identify are specified where applicable.
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 emphasizes stakeholder engagement and action planning. The method's granular requirements allow the organization to gain maturity with each renewal of the exercise, in a progressive and long-term approach, until it becomes an environmental management tool.
The boundary to be taken into account in a Bilan Carbone® also includes emissions on which the organization is dependent. This allows strategic action on the organization's vulnerabilities. It is not a question of determining who is responsible for the emissions, but rather of identifying who can act to reduce them.
Some calculation procedures differ and must be applied with caution:
Emissions associated with energy consumptions are calculated using a location-based approach in the Bilan Carbone® and the BEGES-R. ISO also includes the possibility of doing so according to a market-based approach. The GHG-P requires calculating both approaches.
Emissions associated with capitalizable goods must be amortized in the Bilan Carbone® and the BEGES-R. The GHG-P requires not amortizing these emissions. ISO leaves the choice between the two possibilities.
Emission categories are very similar between these standards, with nonetheless two specificities: ISO includes "GHG removals"; and the GHG-P does not include "visitor travel".
These calculation procedures are detailed 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 organizational carbon accounting standards:
3️⃣ The place of the Bilan Carbone® with regard to regulations
The Bilan Carbone® seeks to align regulatory obligation and voluntary commitment of all actors of French and European society, so that a voluntary approach can bring benefits with respect to a future obligation, but also that an obliged actor can go further and do more than the regulatory requirement.
The Bilan Carbone® Organization thus makes it possible to meet, in terms of carbon accounting, two regulations in particular:
The regulatory method for carrying out GHG emissions assessments, in France (BEGES-R)*
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)
French regulation
The Bilan Carbone® method is compatible with the expectations of the regulation:
The Bilan Carbone® of Initial level meets the regulation on all points.
The Bilan Carbone® of Standard level and Advanced require more.
🔎 Since theevolution of the 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 emissions 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 accompany this method.
The Bilan Carbone® allows carbon accounting on a free boundary and time step (for example a project, an event, a construction site). If an organization subject to the regulation wishes to use the Bilan Carbone®, two major precautions must be taken:
The temporal boundary must be a complete year of activity (reporting year).
The organizational 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 Initial 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 organization 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 a CSRD-specific exercise so that evaluation practices are common and shared, to seek ever more synergies and clarify transition issues for all organizations.
4️⃣ The Bilan Carbone® in a low-carbon transition approach
An organization encounters several needs throughout its maturity rise on transition issues:
Know its context : What are the demands of its stakeholders? What are its regulatory obligations? What are the best practices in its sector? An organization first needs to motivate its transition action. Several resources are available, notably the sectoral guides from ADEME, but also the content offered by ABC. The Bilan Carbone® proposes here to define several boundaries (organizational, operational, temporal) in order to size the exercise appropriately in view of the organization's context. A risk and opportunity analysis of the transition is required within the Bilan Carbone® to begin developing a long-term vision of the organization's low-carbon transition.
Know its emissions profile (GHG profile): what are the emission categories? how do they relate? what is the priority or priorities for the organization regarding reduction? The international standards but also the French regulation propose methods and reporting formats on this issue, for reporting purposes. The Bilan Carbone® goes further, accompanying the organization from data collection to the realization of the GHG profile and its interpretation. Several sectoral variants of the Bilan Carbone® allow organizations in the concerned sectors to focus on sector-specific issues. The Bilan Carbone® also offers mobilization activities to communicate the initial conclusions and promote action. The Bilan Carbone® offers a voluntary audit process to ensure optimal quality of its results and the actions that follow.
Develop a transition strategy and evaluate it : how to define reduction objectives? how to create a transition plan that allows achieving these objectives? how to integrate this transition plan into the organization's overall strategy? how to monitor and improve the organization's carbon accounting approach? Several complementary methods and tools are available here to address all these issues: the Science-Based Targets initiative supports large companies to define targets that allow respecting 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 coherent with the GHG profile, ambitious and credible across all aspects of the organization. The Bilan Carbone® links with these approaches so that the organization can easily use accounting work and the transition plan within these four approaches. The Bilan Carbone® becomes for the most mature organizations the steering tool for the transition trajectory.
Understand the different possibilities for action in favor of the transition: what is the point of developing new low-carbon goods and services? how to integrate sequestration within the organization's strategy? The Bilan Carbone® relies on the principles of the Net Zero Initiative, by designing climate action in three forms : reduction of emissions "at home" (what the Bilan Carbone® organization enables) - 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 organization should maximize its action on all three pillars simultaneously. Note that efforts made on pillars B and C are also valued in transition strategy evaluation approaches, notably ACT.
Publicize its commitment to the transition: What should I communicate to highlight my transition action? How can I communicate it and to whom? Many institutions today ask organizations to publish their GHG assessment, whether intended for investors (such as CDP), the State (regulation BEGES-R), the European Commission (CSRD), their clients who themselves carry out their GHG assessment or who want to select engaged suppliers. While each stakeholder will tend to request different information, the Bilan Carbone® strives to offer a methodological and technical framework synthesizing the expectations of each reference in order to facilitate the organization's reporting.
The transition pathway is non-linear. Each of these approaches feeds the organization's thinking and helps it gain maturity. The 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.
⏳[WIP] The ABC's third overview on the different transition pathways will be updated in September 2024 and will detail the various 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 track of changes here.
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