Energy audit: the deadline has been extended to June 30, 2016!

A 2011 regulation requires large companies and local authorities to report their greenhouse gas emissions, with the list of gases to be accounted for updated in 2016.

Marie Faucon
Consultante HSE
Publication : 
17.05.2016
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Please note: This article concerns French legislation. The requirements described may not apply in other countries.

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Launched in 2010 by the Grenelle II Act and formally established in 2011 by Decree No. 2011-829 of July 11, 2011, the greenhouse gas emissions reporting requirement has recently been amended by regulation (Decree of December 24, 2015, and orders of January 25, 2016). This is therefore an opportunity to review theenergy audit and the applicable regulations.

A new update from 2019 is available in the article: GHG emissions report, energy audit: update

Organizations subject to GHG reporting

The greenhouse gas emissions report applies to:

  • Companies(1) with more than 500 employees(2) in mainland France (250 employees in overseas territories),
  • Local authorities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, as well as other legal entities under public law employing more than 250 people.

(1) Definition of a company

The text explicitly refers to legal entities. This implies that a company with multiple establishments must, if it falls under the scope, aggregate the staff numbers of all its establishments located in France.

(2) Definition of a corporate group

Since January 1, 2016 (a change introduced by Decree No. 2015-1738 of December 24, 2015), corporate groups have been permitted to prepare a consolidated GHG report.

Article R. 229-46 of the Environmental Code now specifies that group committees (a group formed by a parent company with its registered office in France and the companies it controls) whose companies share the same 2-digit NAF code may produce a single consolidated GHG emissions report.

Greenhouse gases covered by the energy audit

Since February 5, 2016, the gases covered are as follows:

  • carbon dioxide (CO2);
  • methane (CH4);
  • nitrous oxide (N2O);
  • hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs);
  • perfluorocarbons (PFCs);
  • sulfur hexafluoride (SF6);
  • nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).

This list was established by the decree of August 24, 2011. However, nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) has been newly added to the list of gases to be included in the energy audit (Decree of January 25, 2016, regarding greenhouse gases covered by greenhouse gas emissions reports, which entered into force on February 5, 2016).

Note: GHG emissions reports due from July 1, 2016, onwards must include nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).

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