Carbon footprint assessments open up international opportunities
🎬 François Lamotte, Associate Director atAltios France
Could you please introduce yourself and describe your business?
My name isFrançois Lamotte, and I am an Associate Director atAltios France.Altiosis an international consulting and advisory firm for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies. Founded about 30 years ago, we now operate in 22 countries with approximately 30 offices. To date, we have served approximately 8,000 clients worldwide.
Since when, and for what purposes, have you been conducting carbon assessments?
This isAltios France’s first carbon footprint assessment. We are currently conducting a carbon footprint assessment for our three offices in Paris, Nantes, and Lyon. The goal is to become GCI experts so that we, in turn, can provideAltiosclients with carbon footprint assessments and support for their own companies.
How is a carbon footprint assessment useful for a company on an international level?
Decarbonization is a very important issue at the company level, but even more so at the international level, since it involves more subsidiaries, more employees, and more suppliers. Today, we talk a lot about“export decarbonization” or “decarbonizing exports.”
Today, this is an issue on which a leader must take a stand—especially since the law either requires or encourages them to do so.
Why did you choose the GCI platform?
We chose the GCI platform because it is a market leader and is recognized byADEME. It allows us to trackScope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions.
I think it strikes a balance between two important elements:the digital and the human. We receive support—there’s training and a hotline. There are many options on the market today, but this is the one we chose.
What would you say to an entrepreneur with international operations to convince them to conduct a carbon assessment of their company?
I’ll tell him it’s an emergency—an emergency that’s at once climate-related and business-related, civic and economic. If he doesn’t act, he’ll certainly be caught up incarbon taxestomorrow, so that’s the first thing: not acting is a risk.
This represents a significant international opportunity for him:the ability to participate in international tendersthat require decarbonization, as well as the ability to choose partners who will require their service providers (whether distributors, agents, or partners…) to be carbon-neutral, and to access what is knownas “impact financing”—which is becoming increasingly important today—and thus toreceive preferential financing termsthat will be crucial in the future for companies that have taken this step.
One last important point is that it gives meaning—and we certainly need that today—leading to more motivated and loyal employees, which will also benefit the company’s employer brand.
To learn more, explore the specifics of carbon assessments for nonprofit organizations, why small and medium-sized businesses should also conduct carbon assessments, CO2 emissions from the manufacturing sector, and the role of suppliers in reducing CO2 emissions.