How can we make carbon accounting a tool for governance and sustainable performance?
Climate change is no longer an illusion. It is already disrupting economic models, energy systems and value chains. For every company, it is becoming urgent to assess its environmental footprint, and to review its production, purchasing, transport andenergy consumption methods. This is where carbon accounting comes into its own . It enables any organization to accurately assess its greenhouse gas emissions, across all its areas ofactivity. This measurement is not just a regulatory exercise: it forms the basis of a structuredaction plan, aimed at concrete reduction targets and a coherent low-carbon transition.
In France, standards such as the Bilan Carbone® method developed by theABC (Association Bilan Carbone) and theADEME guides provide a clear framework for assessing impacts. ISO standards, notably ISO 14064 and ISO 14067, ensure the robustness and auditability of results.
But for this approach to be useful, it must lead to concrete projects, based on precise data, a prioritizedaction plan, and real mobilization of internal and external stakeholders. That's what the Decarbo'Solution® developed by Global Climate Initiatives is all about: helping organizations to manage their climate transition in a structured, measurable and engaging way.
Contents
Carbon accounting: a must for all companies
⚖️Un regulatory framework for carbon transparency
Long limited to certain large organizations, carbon accounting is now becoming a widespread requirement. In France, GHG reporting is mandatory for companies with over 500 employees (Grenelle II decree). At European level, the CSRD directive will require rigorous reporting of all greenhouse gas emissions, across all scopes, by 2025.
🔍 Scope 1: direct emissions fromcompany processes, facilities or vehicles
🔍 Scope 2: indirect emissions linked to purchasedenergy consumption (electricity, heat, steam)
🔍 Scope 3: other indirect emissions along the value chain (purchasing, assets, waste, transport, use)
Scope 1 and 2 generally represent only 10 to 20% of a GHG balance.
In many sectors (industry, textiles, digital, distribution), scope 3 can represent up to 90% of an organization's carbon footprint. Ignoring this part of the footprint is tantamount to overlooking the bulk of its environmental impact.
🚀From regulatory assessment to strategic leverage
Beyond compliance, a well-structured carbon accounting approach provides real added value for thecompany and its direct environment:
- Reduceenergy consumption and related costs
- Better management of climatic and regulatory risks
- Alignment with ADEME, ABC and ISO standards
- Strengthening employer brand and CSR commitment
- Access to green financing and demanding public procurement markets
Above all, this approach makes it possible to prioritize actions according to the most significant emissions items, and to effectively target areas with high potential for improvement. Carbon accounting thus becomes a strategic tool for internal transformation, directly linked to theorganization's environmental and economic challenges.
This is the logic behind Decarbo'Target®, the first module in GCI's Decarbo'Solution® suite. It enablescompanies to transform their GHG balance sheet into an operational action plan, by identifying realistic low-carbon trajectories adapted to their activities, their main emission sources, and their level of maturity.
How to sustain and strengthen your business through a successful low-carbon trajectory.
From measurement to action: structuring an effective carbon approach
🎓Awareness-raising and training: an essential pillar for initiating change towards sustainable practices
For companies, raising awareness of climate issues is the primary lever for transformation. A well-informed team actively participates in achieving environmental objectives to reduce their GHG emissions and carbon footprint management. According to a study by the CSA Institute for LinkedIn and ADEME, 71% of employees say they are taking action to promote the environmental transition within their company, testifying to a growing interest in green initiatives.
Involving employees in this way is essential to consolidating the organization's corporate social responsibility (CSR) culture. More than one in two employees would like to be better informed about their company's climate issues, motivated by a desire to contribute to sustainability projects such as carbon audits and the implementation of concrete measures to reduce their company's environmental impact.
Soliciting the views of your employees can prove beneficial, especially as their participation in the implementation of a climate strategy will enable them to contribute to highlighting the company's values. Internal communication by the company's management is therefore a viable option.
👌 Reliable data for a credible strategy
Data quality is the foundation of relevant carbon accounting. Yet many organizations still rely on generic factors derived from databases such as Base Carbone®, BEIS-Defra® or EcoInvent®. These average figures, while useful for an initial estimate, do not reflect the specific features of products, services, processes or the entire life cycle of a good, from production to end-of-life or actual use.
There are three main limitations:
- Underestimation of suppliers involved in concrete climate actions
- Poor prioritization of reduction projects according to real impact per activity or perimeter
- Biased investment decisions due to lack of visibility on environmental impact
With Decarbo'Supply®, GCI offers a more advanced and targeted method: suppliers can calculate the carbon footprint of their products with My-PCF® (Product Carbon Footprint), or determine customized monetary emission factors with My-FEMPP®, according to the ISO 14067 standard, integrating the entire life cycle of goods and services.
Result: the clientorganization has access to specific data, adapted to its actual activities, its emissions perimeters, and the actualuse of the services and products purchased. This level of precision immediately improves the quality of the carbon footprint, enabling the right reduction levers to be identified, and choices to be made more strategically and responsibly.
💯 From analysis to projection: steering your low-carbon path
With Decarbo'Target®, companies can build a complete transition plan, structured around several stages:
- Tracking SBNC and SBTI targets
- Measure the progress of your decarbonization strategy.
- Mobilize business departments and suppliers to take concrete action
This monitoring transforms carbon accounting into a governance tool: it provides managers with a clear picture of the progress made and the room for manoeuvre remaining, so that they can stay on course for the environmental transition.
Scope 3: transforming purchasing into a lever for transition
❇️Impliquer its value chain: a central challenge
Indirect emissions from purchasing and external services are the most difficult to manage. They depend on the environmental performance of our partners, but also on their ability to produce reliable carbon data.
With Decarbo'Supply®, GCI helps organizations integrate these elements into their GHG balance sheet:
- Supplier'Connect® for supplier enrolment
- My-PCF® and My-FEMPP® to generate ISO-compliant data
- Smooth integration into low-carbon strategy
- Visualization and analysis via collaborative dashboards
This collaborative method enables each player in the value chain to contribute to thecompany's transition plan, by sharing their own reduction actions.
Carbon accounting is not just a monitoring tool. In a world where pressure on the climate context is intensifying, carbon accounting is establishing itself as a common language, a steering tool and a competitive factor. It enables companies to make far-reaching changes to their organization, to unite their partners around a low-carbon approach, and to meet a dual requirement: that of the planet, and that of the market.
It's a structuring method for transforming thecompany, itsenergy choices, purchases and uses. By accurately managing its greenhouse gas emissions, an organization can not only reduce its environmental impact, but also become more resilient and competitive.
With Decarbo'Solution®, Global Climate Initiatives offers much more than just a reporting tool. Our solution offers a comprehensive, modular and interoperable platform, designed to support organizations in all sectors in building their low-carbon trajectory.