Compliance process

Once the organization carrying the candidate tool has submitted a request to undergo the compliance procedure with the Bilan Carbone® method, a partnership will be signed between the Association pour la transition Bas Carbone and the owners of the candidate tool. This partnership is the framework governing the working relationship between the two parties. It is within this partnership that the annex specific to the compliance audit will be found and where ABC will conduct its ongoing reviews and feedback. It also provides the framework for any potential collaboration prior to the audit (for an in-depth review of the tool, see below) or after it (for support on specific improvement topics).

The steps leading to compliance are as follows:

1. Technical Review

The review period, ideally taking place several months before the planned audit date, allows the organization carrying the candidate tool to present it to ABC in depth. This will also allow for the presentation of the user journey, the offerings, and the documentary resources related to the candidate tool.

The purpose of this presentation is to identify in advance any gaps that could lead to non-validation of compliance, thereby allowing the owners of the candidate tool to address these gaps. In this way, ABC also ensures that only tools of sufficient maturity — or close to the expected level — are put forward for audit to obtain Bilan Carbone® compliance.

ABC will also use the technical review period to present the expectations for each criterion of the compliance framework.

1. Self-Assessment

Following the technical review, the candidate tool's owner must carry out a compliance self-assessment of their tool. This will ensure that the tool owner has correctly identified the elements of their tool that meet the expectations of Bilan Carbone® compliance and that they have full knowledge of the framework's criteria.

1. Recruitment of the External Auditor

Since each audit is conducted by an auditor pair consisting of an ABC auditor and an external auditor, the choice of external auditor will be made by ABC, while granting the organization carrying the candidate tool a right of objection.

The auditor will be chosen based on their sectoral expertise or the type of tool they are accustomed to working with. The objective is to propose the most competent auditor to evaluate the tool and enable its subsequent improvement.

The external auditor may take the role of lead auditor or secondary auditor.

1. Launch of the Process

The compliance process begins with a kick-off meeting, enabling a full presentation of the tool to the auditor pair to facilitate their onboarding.

The launch serves as a reminder of the tool's usage framework, its user journey, the resources that accompany it, and potentially the support offering within which the auditors will be placed.

During the launch, the auditors will schedule the next steps of the compliance process, namely the results presentation, their synchronisation, and any potential exchanges with the organization carrying the candidate tool if its use requires it.

1. Transmission of Resources and Access to the Tool:

For the transmission of resources and access to the tool, several scenarios are possible depending on the types of tools that may be subject to the compliance process:

For an internal carbon accounting tool

The following must be provided to the auditors:

• access to the tool or a transfer of the tool, respectively for a web or spreadsheet format
• two detailed test cases (i.e. specifying input data) to test the tool and compare results with the Bilan Carbone® spreadsheet
• the documentation associated with the tool
• the stakeholder engagement/awareness-raising materials associated with the use of the tool within the organisation

For a commercial and sector-specific carbon accounting tool

The following must be provided to the auditors:

• access to the tool or a transfer of the tool, respectively for a web or spreadsheet format
• two detailed test cases (i.e. specifying input data) to test the tool and compare results with the Bilan Carbone® spreadsheet
• a presentation of the user journeys according to the offerings proposed by the candidate tool's owner, or at minimum the offering within which the candidate tool is being audited
• the documentation associated with the tool
• the stakeholder engagement/awareness-raising materials associated with the use of the tool

For a commercial and general-purpose carbon accounting tool

The following must be provided to the auditors:

• access to the tool or a transfer of the tool, respectively for a web or spreadsheet format
• a presentation of the user journeys according to the offerings proposed by the candidate tool's owner, or at minimum the offering within which the candidate tool is being audited
• the documentation associated with the tool
• the stakeholder engagement/awareness-raising materials associated with the use of the tool

1. Evaluation of the Candidate Tool

The auditors carry out their evaluation, asynchronously, in accordance with the compliance framework in force. During this evaluation period, the auditors may be required to contact the organization carrying the candidate tool in order to obtain additional elements to support their evaluation.

It is important to emphasise that the audit focuses on tangible content and not statements of intent. In this regard, the organization carrying the candidate tool must be able to justify the validation of the audit criteria with concrete evidence, particularly those relating to the carbon approach.

During their evaluation, auditors are required to indicate, for each criterion, a justification for the validation and the score awarded, as well as to provide recommendations where the tool can be improved to better meet one of the criteria.

1. Auditor Synchronisation

The auditors synchronise to allow the lead auditor to validate a decision on the attribution of compliance for the candidate tool.

1. Results Presentation

A results presentation session is scheduled to present the audit findings to the organization carrying the candidate tool. This allows the auditors to present both the justifications for their evaluations and the recommendations made to resolve any blocking points or shortcomings.

If the candidate tool meets the conditions for obtaining compliance, it will then be compliant with the Bilan Carbone® method and the 'Bilan Carbone® Conform' logo may be used.

If the candidate tool achieves a score above 70/100 and validates all mandatory criteria

If the candidate tool meets the conditions for obtaining compliance, it will then be compliant with the Bilan Carbone® method.

The organization carrying the compliant tool will then receive the 'Bilan Carbone® Conform' logo (usable for communication purposes) as well as a compliance certificate for their tool. The tool will also be displayed in the list of compliant tools on the ABC website.

If the candidate tool achieves a score between 60/100 and 70/100 and/or does not validate all mandatory criteria

A period of up to 6 months is granted for the improvement of the candidate tool and the resolution of blocking points. During this period, the process is as follows:

• Preparation of an improvement plan by the organization carrying the candidate tool. This plan may take into account the auditors' justifications and recommendations.
• If necessary, validation of the improvement plan with the lead auditor.
• Implementation of the improvement plan.
• Presentation of the effective improvements to the lead auditor.
• Validation or refusal of compliance after verification that the improvements have been implemented.

If at the end of this process the candidate tool meets the conditions for obtaining compliance, it will then be compliant with the Bilan Carbone® method.

The organization carrying the compliant tool will then receive the 'Bilan Carbone® Conform' logo (usable for communication purposes) as well as a compliance certificate for their tool. The tool will also be displayed in the list of compliant tools on the ABC website.

If the candidate tool achieves a score between 50/100 and 60/100

A maximum period of one month is granted for the improvement of the candidate tool on the essential points chosen by the auditors. The objective of this one-month period is to allow the organization carrying the candidate tool to resolve the significant blocking points in order to achieve a score of 60/100.

If, at the end of this month, the organization presents improvements enabling the candidate tool to achieve a score of 60/100, then a period of up to 6 months is granted for the improvement of the tool and the resolution of blocking points. During this period, the process is as follows:

• Preparation of an improvement plan by the organization carrying the candidate tool. This plan may take into account the auditors' justifications and recommendations.
• If necessary, validation of the improvement plan with the lead auditor.
• Implementation of the improvement plan.
• Presentation of the effective improvements to the lead auditor.
• Validation or refusal of compliance after verification that the improvements have been implemented.

Given that the additional verification is more substantial compared to a tool achieving a minimum score of 60/100 at the time of the audit, the organization carrying the candidate tool will be required to pay a fee of €1,000 excl. VAT to cover the validation of the improvements.

If at the end of this process the candidate tool meets the conditions for obtaining compliance, it will then be compliant with the Bilan Carbone® method.

The organization carrying the compliant tool will then receive the 'Bilan Carbone® Conform' logo (usable for communication purposes) as well as a compliance certificate for their tool. The tool will also be displayed in the list of compliant tools on the ABC website.

If the candidate tool achieves a score below 50/100

No period is granted for the improvement of the candidate tool; it is considered that its level is too far from the standard required to claim Bilan Carbone® compliance.

If the organization carrying the candidate tool wishes to do so, it may resubmit its tool to the compliance audit to demonstrate the improvement of its tool and obtain Bilan Carbone® compliance.