Carbon footprint
Corporate carbon footprint, Bilan Carbone®, BEGES
A corporate carbon footprint is the inventory of all the greenhouse gas emissions a company causes over a year, across scopes 1, 2 and 3, expressed in tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
It is built by collecting activity data (energy bills, purchases, transport, travel) and multiplying each item by an emission factor. The main methods are the GHG Protocol internationally and, in France, the Bilan Carbone® method, created by ADEME and now run by the Association pour la transition Bas Carbone (ABC).
In France, the regulatory greenhouse gas report (BEGES, article L229-25 of the Environmental Code) is mandatory every four years for companies with more than 500 employees in mainland France (more than 250 in the overseas territories). Since January 1, 2023, it must include significant indirect emissions, meaning scope 3.
A footprint is only useful if it leads to a reduction plan. Measure once properly, identify the few items that drive most of the total, and set targets on those.
Go further
- Carbon Footprint in Business: A Step-by-Step Guide
- Mandatory carbon footprint (BEGES): who must comply, penalties, deadlines
- Carbon footprint methods: Bilan Carbone®, GHG Protocol, ISO 14064