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May 29, 2025
D-Carbonize successfully obtained the attestation of compliance to Bilan Carbone®. Not only our software was audited but also our processes and deliverables, underlining its commitment to high-quality carbon accounting solutions. The Bilan Carbone Methodology, developed by ADEME, assesses the carbon footprint in six key stages, from awareness to continuous improvement. This compliance guarantees a reliable and accurate methodology for measuring and reducing the ecological footprint, reinforcing D-Carbonize's commitment to excellence and sustainability.
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The Carbon Footprint Method (BCC), developed by ADEME, is a rigorous approach to assessing an organization’s carbon footprint. It aims to quantify greenhouse gas emissions from physical processes essential to an activity or organization. This includes both direct and indirect emissions.
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The first step of the Bilan Carbone® method is to raise awareness of energy and climate issues, a fundamental phase for anchoring the approach in a sustainable commitment. Even before starting calculations or data collection, it is essential that all stakeholders within the organization—employees, management teams, partners, and sometimes even clients—understand the underlying reasons for assessing the carbon footprint. This awareness helps create a common language around key concepts: greenhouse gases, carbon footprint, direct and indirect emissions, carbon neutrality, etc.
Internally, this can take the form of training sessions, participatory workshops, educational communication materials, or dedicated events. The goal is to generate buy-in and develop a collective awareness of the environmental impacts associated with the company’s activities. An organization that takes the time to train its employees is better able to establish a low-carbon culture and encourage everyone’s active involvement in the process.
Outside the company, awareness-raising can also involve suppliers, subcontractors, or local stakeholders, particularly when the value chain plays a significant role in the company’s emissions. Involving these stakeholders early on helps anticipate bottlenecks, better structure information gathering, and strengthen the credibility of the process.
Awareness-raising is therefore not limited to a simple introductory step: it constitutes a strategic foundation for ensuring the success of the Bilan Carbone® and initiating a sustainable organizational transformation.
Mobilizing internal staff is a decisive step in implementing the Bilan Carbone® method. It occurs from the very beginning of the process and determines the quality, reliability, and effectiveness of the entire process. Indeed, calculating a carbon footprint relies on rigorous data collection relating to the organization’s activities (purchasing, travel, energy consumption, waste, etc.), and this collection cannot be achieved without the involvement of various teams.
It is therefore important to identify key contacts within the relevant departments (accounting, logistics, human resources, production, etc.) and actively engage them in the process. This engagement can take the form of framework meetings, collaborative workshops, or the designation of carbon focal points in each department. These internal contacts play a fundamental role in centralizing data, explaining the issues to their colleagues, and ensuring regular contact with the team responsible for the carbon footprint.
Beyond the technical aspect, staff engagement also helps strengthen cohesion around a project with high environmental value. It gives meaning to everyone’s work by concretely demonstrating how each action, each consumption or production item, can contribute to the ecological transition. Successful mobilization thus creates a climate of cooperation, conducive to the transformation and sustainable adoption of low-carbon practices at all levels of the company.
Calculating greenhouse gas emissions is the technical core of the Bilan Carbone® method. This step involves quantifying, in a structured and standardized manner, all emissions generated directly or indirectly by the organization’s activities. It is based on data collected during the mobilization phase and allows for the identification of the highest-emitting areas within the company.
The calculation covers three defined scopes:
This comprehensive approach accurately reflects the reality of an organization’s carbon impacts. The goal is not only to produce an overall figure, but also to obtain a detailed snapshot of emissions in order to identify the main levers for action. The use of official and up-to-date emission factors, such as those proposed by ADEME, is essential to ensure the reliability of the results.
Finally, this phase often includes a climate vulnerability analysis: it allows us to understand how the company’s activities could be affected by future climate changes and to anticipate the risks associated with high carbon dependence.
Once emissions have been identified and quantified, the next step in the Bilan Carbone® method is to develop concrete and targeted action plans to reduce the organization’s carbon footprint. This phase is essential because it transforms the quantified findings into operational decisions. It allows us to move from a simple assessment to an active transformation.
Action plans must be tailored to the organization, its activities, its resources, and its level of maturity regarding environmental issues. They can include various measures, such as improving energy efficiency, reducing business travel, relocating suppliers, switching to renewable energy, or even eco-designing products. Each action is prioritized based on its emission reduction potential, its technical feasibility, and its implementation cost.
This step also involves internal consultation to ensure team buy-in for the planned changes. The involvement of business lines is essential to ensure the alignment of actions with the company’s strategic objectives. At the same time, it is necessary to define specific monitoring indicators to measure progress.
Finally, action plans must remain scalable: they are part of a continuous improvement approach, where actions are regularly reassessed and enhanced. This flexibility allows the organization to adapt to technological, regulatory or climatic developments, while maintaining the course towards carbon neutrality.
Defining reduction targets is a key step in the Bilan Carbone® method, as it formalizes the organization’s long-term commitment. Once emissions have been analyzed and action plans identified, the next step is to set clear, measurable objectives aligned with global climate trajectories.
These objectives must be long-term, consistent with the commitments of the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to +1.5°C. To this end, companies are encouraged to adopt trajectories compatible with carbon neutrality by 2050, or even more ambitious ones depending on their sector of activity. Many stakeholders rely on recognized benchmarks, such as Science Based Targets (SBTi), to set credible and scientifically validated reduction targets.
Objectives can be defined in absolute terms (overall reduction in tons of CO₂ equivalent) or in intensity (per unit of revenue, production, etc.). They must also be broken down by emissions scope (Scope 1, 2, and 3) to ensure complete coverage of the carbon footprint.
Finally, it is crucial that these objectives be integrated into the organization’s overall strategy. They must serve as a guide for driving the transformation, mobilizing teams, engaging with stakeholders, and reporting on progress. By setting ambitious objectives, the company gives itself the means to act effectively toward a low-carbon future.
Implementing a continuous improvement approach is the phase that sustainably anchors the organization’s climate transition. It consolidates the previous steps by establishing a regular process for evaluating, adjusting, and progressing the actions undertaken. This dynamic is essential to avoid remaining stuck in a one-off or symbolic approach, but rather to integrate carbon management into the company’s daily operations.
In concrete terms, this approach relies on monitoring performance indicators, analyzing deviations from set objectives, and adapting action plans based on observed results. It also involves strengthening data collection tools, automating certain tasks using specialized software such as D-Carbonize, and structuring carbon governance with clearly defined responsibilities.
Continuous improvement also relies on a culture of feedback: it is important to identify what works, what is blocking, and to learn lessons from them to move forward. This can involve regular reviews, internal audits, or feedback from stakeholders (customers, suppliers, employees).
Our COO, Frédéric John, and co-founder, is delighted that “this compliance attests that our carbon footprint calculation software meets the strictest quality criteria for carbon accounting.” This guarantees our clients a reliable and accurate methodology for measuring and reducing their carbon footprint.
We are proud of the work accomplished to achieve this compliance. It demonstrates our commitment to excellence and our desire to provide our clients with the best solutions to achieve their sustainability goals.
To learn more about our carbon footprint calculation software and its importance for your carbon strategy, contact us!
The Carbon Footprint® Method is intended for any organization wishing to assess and reduce its carbon footprint, regardless of its sector or size. Initially developed for large industrial companies, it has now become more widespread and meets the needs of a wide variety of stakeholders: large corporations, SMEs, local authorities, public institutions, associations, educational institutions, and even design firms.
Large companies find in this method a structured framework to meet their non-financial reporting obligations (CSRD, European taxonomy). SMEs and VSEs see the method as an opportunity to structure their environmental approach, optimize their consumption, and differentiate themselves among their customers or partners. For local authorities, the method allows them to assess the impacts of their operations and public policies, and to guide transition actions at the local level.
It is also particularly useful for organizations committed to a CSR strategy or seeking to respond to public or private calls for tenders that include environmental criteria. By producing a compliant assessment, they strengthen their credibility, anticipate regulatory developments, and are part of a low-carbon trajectory consistent with national and international climate objectives.
Carrying out a Carbon Footprint® is not just about fulfilling an obligation or demonstrating an environmental commitment. Above all, it is a strategic lever with multiple benefits that can profoundly transform the way an organization manages its activities.
The first benefit is visibility into the highest-emitting areas. By accurately identifying direct and indirect emission sources, the organization can target its efforts where they will have the greatest impact. This detailed knowledge makes it possible to optimize energy consumption, reduce input or travel costs, and anticipate risks related to energy prices or future regulations.
The Carbon Footprint® also constitutes a competitive advantage. In a context where ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) criteria are playing an increasingly important role in purchasing decisions, financing, and calls for tenders, demonstrating a rigorous carbon approach strengthens the company’s credibility and brand image.
It is also a tool for internal mobilization, giving meaning to teamwork and uniting around a value-laden project. Finally, it paves the way for concrete, measurable, and planned actions, placing the company on a low-carbon transition path.
Carbon accounting is currently based on several recognized methodologies, including the Bilan Carbone® method, the GHG Protocol, and the ISO 14064 standard. Although they share a common objective—measuring greenhouse gas emissions—these standards offer different approaches, scopes, and levels of precision.
Bilan Carbone®, developed by ADEME and later supported by the Association for Low-Carbon Transition (ABC), is a French method designed to be accessible to all types of organizations. It stands out for its educational approach, its strong link with French emission factors, and its ability to integrate indirect emissions (scope 3) in detail.
The GHG Protocol, for its part, is an international standard widely used by large companies and multinationals. It offers a strict classification of emissions into three scopes and often serves as a basis for non-financial reporting or SBTi (Science Based Targets) approaches. It is more geared toward external communication and global standardization.
Finally, the ISO 14064 standard offers an international normative framework focused on the verifiability of carbon inventories. It is particularly used in certification or auditing processes.
Choosing between these methods depends on the organization’s objectives, its scope of activity, and the desired level of recognition at the national or international level. The Bilan Carbone® method is positioned as an effective, educational solution aligned with French and European challenges.
Implementing a Bilan Carbone® can be complex without the right tools. D-Carbonize software was designed precisely to address these challenges. Compliant with the Bilan Carbone® method, it simplifies every step of the process, from data collection to results analysis, including planning reduction actions.
One of D-Carbonize’s main advantages is its intelligent data centralization. Thanks to an intuitive interface, users can easily import and structure their activity data (energy, purchasing, transportation, waste, etc.). The software integrates official databases, including ADEME emission factors, to ensure reliable calculations.
The interactive dashboard allows you to view emissions by item, site, or period, making it easier to identify priority levers. Modules also allow you to create customized reduction scenarios, with carbon and economic impact simulations.
D-Carbonize also offers collaborative management features, useful for mobilizing teams, assigning tasks, and tracking key indicators. This collaborative approach is essential for anchoring the process over time.
By facilitating the rigorous application of the Bilan Carbone® method, D-Carbonize enables companies and communities to quickly move from intention to action, while respecting demanding methodological standards.
The Bilan Carbone® method is constantly evolving to stay in step with climate challenges, scientific advances, and regulatory requirements. Led by the Association for the Low Carbon Transition (ABC), it is regularly updated to refine its emission factors, integrate new sectors of activity, and improve the accuracy of analyses, particularly for indirect Scope 3 emissions.
Among the major areas of development is the expansion to include new related environmental issues, such as biodiversity, life cycle assessment (LCA), and the assessment of physical and transition risks related to climate change. The objective is to offer an increasingly comprehensive, coherent, and operational approach.
With the gradual implementation of the CSRD directive and the development of carbon accounting tools across Europe, the Bilan Carbone® method could also be better aligned with international standards while retaining its specific features. These developments make it possible to transform this method into a strategic environmental management tool, capable of supporting all types of organizations on their path to carbon neutrality.
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