With the end of the year comes the time to take stock. Alexis Normand, CEO of Greenly, is quite satisfied with that of his start-up: “We sign contracts with a vengeance: every month, we have a hundred new customers!”. This young shoot has indeed found the right vein: that of carbon accounting. Launched in 2019, the platform allows companies to automate the measurement of their CO2 emissions using software that automatically retrieves data from accounting, expense reports or logistics flows. After a fundraising of 21 million euros, the start-up decided to attack another market: the international one.
Greenly is not the only company to position itself in this already flourishing market. “Three years ago, we were almost alone and everyone told us that there was no business model: now you have fifteen players on the market”, observes Philippe Mangeard, founder of Global Climate Initiatives. A boom that is not about to stop. French regulations already require listed companies to calculate their carbon footprint. Ditto for those with more than 500 employees, but which until now were only obliged to report on their scope 1 (direct greenhouse gas emissions) and 2 (those related to energy and heat consumption). ). From January 1, they will now be required to measure their scope 3, that is to say all indirect emissions, generated for example by suppliers or employee travel.
From 2024, a new European directive will also extend the non-financial reporting obligation to companies with more than 250 employees. A regulation that has cascading effects on SMEs and VSEs. “To have quality data, it is necessary to have a fine mapping of all our suppliers and their own impact”, explains Marie-Claire Daveu, director of sustainable development and institutional affairs for the luxury group Kering, who developed an “environmental income statement” measuring the total environmental footprint of its brands.
New kind of accountants
Companies are also pushed by investors forced to green their portfolios. “In a few years, it may be difficult to find money if we do not show that we have at least a trajectory for reducing our carbon emissions”, anticipates Daniel Biarneix, president of the French Association of corporate treasurers and deputy financial director of Saint-Gobain. And not just for the biggest boxes. “Some banks offer loans at subsidized rates to SMEs and ETIs, if they reduce their emissions, which requires carrying out carbon assessments”, observes Xavier Leroy, director of the consulting division of Ethifinance, an extra-financial rating agency. .
For companies, carbon accounting has another utility: to be able to define an emissions reduction trajectory. An asset for their brand image with customers now concerned about the climate impact of their consumption. And a bait in the hunt for young talent in search of ethical employers, in a context of tensions over recruitment.
An extra-financial line to add to the balance sheet and therefore a new kind of chartered accountant, even if none are really alike. First of all, there are the “specialists”, who have opened up the market and enjoy a very strong legitimacy in the mouths of our interlocutors. A pioneer among pioneers, the firm Carbone 4 founded in 2007 by Jean-Marc Jancovici – father of the carbon footprint for businesses -, and the economist Alain Grandjean, is a reference today. In its wake, players such as EcoAct, Global Climate Initiative, the Association for Low Carbon Transition (ABC), I Care, Utopies, BL Evolutions have also developed recognized know-how in the country. “There is a world between them and the others. When you carry out a carbon balance sheet, it is not the gross value of greenhouse gas emissions that is the most important. But much more what the service provider will bring in terms of the emissions reduction trajectory as well as the force of conviction to make leaders move. On this, the ‘specialists’ are unbeatable because they really believe in what they tell you”, explains a CSR consultant to the within a French banking establishment.
Obviously, the Boston Consulting Group, Deloitte, Accenture and Wavestone are also watching this carbon accounting market with greed. For those who already have a foot in the door within companies with a consultancy mission, these are additional services that they can charge for. “For a company between 100 and 500 employees, count between 10,000 and 15,000 euros for a simplified balance sheet on scopes 1, 2, sometimes 3. By adding advice on emission reduction strategies, it can quickly add up between 40,000 and 80,000 euros”, explains the executive of a company who recently made his own. An interesting windfall, which may explain why the BCG, for example, set up last year a platform boosted with artificial intelligence – CO2 IA – which proposes to “quantify and measure with precision” the CO2 emissions of n any business.
A race for “platformization”
And the American giant is not the only one to have thought of AI to massively carry out carbon assessments. This race for “platformization” is also spreading in France, with companies such as Sami, Carbo, WeCount, Sweep or even Greenly offering extremely simplified tools, easy to handle even for lay companies on this issue, and above all at a reduced cost. “Today there are great consulting firms, but they are aimed more at large groups. An SME, if only for cost reasons, has different needs that we can meet with our tools”, explains Alexis Normand, boss of Greenly. “Specialists are in too much demand and cannot take all the contracts. What these companies offer is better than nothing. But not all of them are equal and sometimes you have to be vigilant about what is offered”, explains our consultant. quoted above.
Indeed, despite the desire to standardize calculation methods – in France with the carbon footprint methodology, worldwide with the GHG Protocol – a certain freedom persists in the way each of the companies in question measures CO2. This also leads to controversy. A few weeks ago, TotalEnergies was singled out by the NGO Greenpeace which, with the support of the firm Factor X, concluded that the emissions declared by the oil group were undoubtedly underestimated by a factor of 4. Interviewed by L’ Express, the boss of Greenly judged for his part that the study of Factor X was probably underestimated. After carefully examining all the information provided by the company, the firm Carbone 4 came to an even different conclusion, closer to that given by TotalEnergies.
As many results as calculating machines… A great mess in power. And a worrying prospect, given the importance that a company’s carbon footprint will take on in the future with the regulator, but also in the investment decisions of its stakeholders or purchases by customers. In France, if the principle of a carbon assessment compliance review carried out by the prefect or the president of the regional council is provided for by law, the Ministry of Energy Transition did not tell the Express whether specific means will be allocated to them, both in terms of human resources and skills. A new regulatory salvo could be necessary to harmonize the results a little more, which also depend, it is true, on all the elements communicated by the company to its service provider.
In the meantime, the excitement is here to stay. France has a card to play internationally, thanks to its expertise and the proliferation of its players. “There is a real carbon footprint school in France, with many young graduates well versed in this subject,” rejoices Alexis Normand. A “French touch” less glamorous than luxury, but perhaps more in tune with the world of tomorrow.