The carbon footprint is twenty years old
Developed in 2004 by Jean-Marc Jancovici, popularized by Ademe, and now in the hands of the Association for Low-Carbon Transition (ABC), carbon footprint assessment is celebrating its twentieth anniversary. As an expert in GHG emissions calculation methodologies and an operator itself, the AFNOR group is closely involved.
Climate and decarbonization
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It's an anniversary that has flown under the radar: Bilan Carbone® is twenty years old! Created in 2004 by Ademe in collaboration with climate engineer Jean-Marc Jancovici, this tool has brought the expression "carbon footprint" into everyday language, referring to any method of calculating the weight of a product, service, or organization in terms of greenhouse gas emissions... even without using the actual Bilan Carbone® methodology (with a capital B, capital C and small ®) is used. This is a registered trademark, the use of which is reserved for members of the Association pour la transition bas carbone (ABC), which inherited it from Ademe in 2011.
In doing so, the expression has become synonymous with carbon footprint, as it involves considering the entire life cycle of the emission source under study, from manufacture to end of life. This is what makes it unique, robust, and renowned: the tool takes into account all direct, indirect, and associated greenhouse gas emissions generated by the source under study, all expressed in tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq). Another method, the GHG Protocol, offers a similar approach in terms of "scopes" (scope 1, scope 2, scope 3).
The carbon footprint assessment, a comprehensive and rigorous tool
This holistic approach by emission category, based on a life cycle perspective, is precisely what brings Bilan Carbone® closer to the world of AFNOR voluntary standards, in particular the international standards of the ISO 14060 family, which describe methods for calculating and quantifying greenhouse gas emissions. These include the NF EN standards. ISO 14064-1 , a standard that establishes the well-known distinction between direct and indirect emissions, and NF EN ISO 14067 on calculating a product's carbon footprint. "ISO standards set the tone for accounting; Bilan Carbone® adds action to this: a carbon footprint assessment is always accompanied by a transition plan, a fundamental step in building a low-carbon roadmap. There is a starting point and a finish line," explains Claire Delabre-Chagué, head of AFNOR Energies, the AFNOR group entity that brings together all of the group's offerings on this subject.
In France, Bilan Carbone® really took off during the Grenelle Environment Forum: in 2010, it was incorporated into law under the official name of "greenhouse gas emissions assessment" (BEGES). The Grenelle 2 law then imposed regular reporting obligations on major public and private players. This measure is still in force today and is proving very useful for the new extra-financial reporting rules. Thanks to the results obtained, economic players can get an idea of how their activity contributes to global warming and act accordingly. For example, by revising their import policy in order to reduce their indirect and associated emissions, a lever that is set to be used more widely with the arrival in Europe of the carbon border tax (MACF mechanism). At the end of February 2025, the database GHG balance sheet The ADEME recorded 8,727 BEGES that had been duly completed and submitted.
In addition to disseminating ISO standards specific to greenhouse gas emissions calculations in France, the AFNOR group is actively involved in developing assessment methods based on the Bilan Carbone® carbon footprint assessment. A partnership signed at the end of 2024 with ABC will soon enable its subsidiary AFNOR Compétences to roll out training courses related to the Bilan Carbone® methodology and, more broadly, to the theme of decarbonization. The AFNOR Group itself has a team of consultants who are experts in the Bilan Carbone® tool, based within the AFNOR Energies Ingénierie entity. "The exercise is seen as one component of a broader approach encompassing decarbonization and energy efficiency," explains Marion Ripaux, development manager for this entity.
AFNOR Compétences already issues training courses on the fundamentals of carbon accounting , emphasizing the concept of life cycle analysis. The growing community of Bilan Carbone® assessors, experts tasked with verifying the declarations made by organizations that have used this standard, will soon have a way to demonstrate their professionalism: AFNOR Certification, another subsidiary of the group, is working with ABC to develop a skills certification. AFNOR Certification already offers a carbon footprint verification and validation service to companies that choose to have their carbon claims verified by an independent third party. "This service provides transparency and credibility to environmental data, thereby promoting more responsible management of climate impacts, as opposed to greenwashing," explains Marie Vigier, head of AFNOR Certification.
Are you interested in these prospects? Come and meet the AFNOR Group and its partners. during the anniversary celebration organized by the ABC on March 10, 2025, in Paris !
