The associations and NGOs that they act in the humanitarian, social, sporting and cultural sectors face a paradox: if they are often on the front line facing the effects of climate change, they also contribute to it through their emissions of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse (GES).
The recent crises linked to energy and climate change [1] have had a strong impact on associations and NGOs. They are experiencing an increase in their operating costs, in particular their electricity bills (45% increase in the average annual price per MWh of electricity paid by manufacturers in 2022 compared to 2021 [2] ), gas, fuel (increase on average of 20% in gasoline prices and 24% between January 2021 and June 2022 compared to their 2020 average [3] ) or power supply. The example of Restos du Cœur also reminds us that they can suffer a jaws effect, with a simultaneous increase in demand (doubling of the number of free meals distributed during the summer of 2023 in certain regions), and operating costs (doubling of food purchases or an increase in energy bills). Associations in the humanitarian sector, for example, are therefore faced with the challenges of increasing precariousness.
Associations and NGOs, however, contribute indirectly to these changes which impact them. Each activity carried out by an associative structure has a carbon impact on all categories of emissions (transport, purchases of goods or services, waste management or fixed assets for example).
Thus, we will see in this article why a climate strategy is a necessity and an opportunity for an association that wishes to reduce its environmental impact, and how to define it so that it drives a concrete transition for the association, in the service of its mission.
Why launch your climate strategy as an association?
A legal obligation for associations with more than 500 employees
All associations [4] with more than 500 employees must publish on the ADEME website - every four years - a report on GHG emissions as well as a transition plan (BEGES). This is a legal obligation [5] for private law legal entities.
The association will first have to define the scope of its Carbon Assessment. It is recommended to include all of the association's sites in this scope from the first Assessment, even if it means relying on estimated data and carrying out in parallel Carbon Assessments of pilot sites which will make it possible to clarify the climate strategy. national.
Doc 1. The objective of a Carbon Assessment is to arrive at a carbon action plan.
A first step to launch a climate strategy with a quantified basis
Carrying out the association's Carbon Assessment is an opportunity to quantify the carbon footprint of the association as a whole.
If this evaluation is essential to reveal the main emission sources, the objective is however to be able to break down this footprint to a relevant level, according to the internal organization: by sector, by region, or if possible by site and typology of activity (for example, an associative village, a textile collection, a distribution of foodstuffs, etc.).
This breakdown will make it possible to identify relevant decarbonization actions for each type of activity: a sports village will focus on the movement of visitors and their purchases, while a home or marauding service will focus on emissions linked to transportation of employees and volunteers.
Doc 2. Creating a “Site Sheet” for each type of activity makes it possible to disseminate the results of the Carbon Assessment from a pilot site to other sites that have not carried out a Carbon Assessment but have the same activity.
Actions whose expected effects are broader than just the reduction of GHG emissions
A climate action plan increases the attractiveness of the association for its future stakeholders
On a reputational level, it is a question of responding to the growing demands of the stakeholders of the associative structure in terms of Organizational Social Responsibility (CSR): volunteers and employees, donors and members.
For example, a climate strategy is a first response to the demand of young generations who seek meaning in their action: it allows us to show that beyond its initial mission, the association also seeks to minimize its impact, in particular environmental. In a tight recruitment context, it can help to make the association more attractive (for example, when it is in competition with for-profit players).
Likewise, in return for their financial involvement, donors can expect climate commitments from the association, just like newly recruited employees.
A climate action plan makes it possible to identify and carry out profitable actions
Defining a climate strategy can help achieve cost savings and the association's financial performance. The objective of the climate strategy is in fact to identify the decarbonization actions to prioritize: those which are the most impactful and the least costly, or even the most profitable. This analysis can, for example, reveal that reducing food waste is a priority, or that it is preferable to install heat pumps rather than purchasing electric vehicles, for an equivalent investment amount.
Doc 3 . Measures whose abatement cost [6] , that is to say the amount in euro(s) spent for each tonne of CO2 not emitted, is low or negative will be prioritized. If the abatement cost of a measure is negative, this means that its implementation makes it possible to reduce emissions with an economic gain for the association.
The financial approach is one of the elements that allows the climate strategy to get all stakeholders involved in thinking about the sustainability of the business model as part of a coherent and supervised approach.
How to develop a successful climate strategy?
A sustainable approach that respects the constraints of the associative sector
The discussions to be carried out around a transition plan must be part of a sustainability approach for the structure, without compromising the nature of the activity (incompressible emission items, such as the purchase of primary goods need for new drugs or medications for a health structure) and compliance with the imperatives implied by the sector (sometimes urgent nature of missions and deadlines).
The construction of the climate strategy must of course adapt to this reality rather than ignoring it. The first challenge is to make data collection as easy as possible for support functions by precisely listing the data necessary for the Carbon Assessment, so that they have more time to contribute to the construction of the action plan.
In addition to the collection of national data, it is also recommended to carry out Carbon Reports of voluntary pilot sites: these will make it possible to identify the carbon profiles of the association's different types of sites when it manages multiple missions.
Complete data collection, at a scale adapted to the association
Data collection is an essential step in a Carbon Assessment: it must be as complete as possible in order to estimate the carbon footprint of the entire association, and it must be carried out to a degree of relevant granularity which will allow this impact to be broken down by type of activity.
The available data may be unequally available between different establishments (varying degrees of precision of inventories between sites, see a lack of inventory or updating of the heritage database, varied and unequal expenditure on information items). broadcasts[7]).
Furthermore, access to data can be complex due to the often decentralized nature of operations. This is why it is recommended to carry out carbon assessments of pilot sites, in order to then ensure the estimates made at the national level for each type of activity.
For example, if the association is structured by sector, it is wise to take a sample of sites for each sector.
Doc. 4. A Carbon Assessment makes it possible to classify the main positions of a site by emissions position (here: a structure welcoming people with disabilities, where meals and medicines are the most impactful purchases) .
Doc. 5. A workshop with the site's employees and volunteers makes it possible to identify a list of actions that are both impactful and adapted to its reality.
Doc. 6. An action sheet targets an impactful measure for the association which implements its climate strategy.
In summary, the implementation of a climate strategy for a delocalized associative structure
Overall, it is essential in the process of achieving an ambitious and effective climate strategy:
- That the collection of data and the implementation of the carbon action plan adapt to the specificities of the association, whose activities of the structure can be more or less delocalized and diversified;
- That the collection and calculations of the carbon footprint are carried out at the appropriate business and territorial scales;
- That the climate strategy be co-developed with representatives from the field;
These elements will guarantee that the action plan will be adapted to the field and realistic, and will drive a lasting reduction in the footprint as well as ideally positive synergies (financial savings, attractiveness, etc.) for the associative structure.
This approach will make it possible to initiate the association's sustainable transition, and to anticipate changes that could harm its mission, such as the increase in the price of energy and carbon, and therefore in purchasing expenses for electricity. 'association.
[1] The European Copernicus Observatory has alerted public opinion to the recording during the last three months of summer (June, July, August) 2023, of the highest global average temperatures ever measured.
[2] INSEE data, published on June 8, 2023. The increase in energy prices was mainly passed on in the sales prices by industrial establishments.
[3] INSEE data, published on December 19, 2022.
[4] Reference text, law of July 1 , 1901 relating to association contracts
[5]Article L.229-25 of the environmental code; articles R.229-45 to R.229-50-1 specifying the terms of application of the obligations.
[6] The abatement cost is calculated by dividing the total additional cost of the measure (in terms of financial and human investment) by the emissions avoided.
[7] This is the example of spending on outsourced services which are difficult to link to a precise carbon impact, etc.
