Preguntas más frecuentes

The footprint displayed at the beginning of the test, before you answer the questions, should be considered a starting point. Throughout the calculator, it allows you to compare the footprint of your consumption items (car miles, heating, etc.) with values ​​intended to be as close as possible to the French average.

This starting point differs from the 9.2 tons of CO₂e, the average individual carbon footprint of the French.

This difference is normal, as the two calculation methods are very different:

"From the top": The Ministry's average includes the carbon impact of all activities in the French economy, which it then divides by the 68 million French population. "From the bottom": Our Climate Actions proposes adding, item by item, the footprints of all our actual and "significant" consumption (i.e., those representing the vast majority of an individual's carbon footprint). The model is not exhaustive; the challenge is to find the right balance between accuracy/completeness and complexity/test duration.

As long as the order of magnitude is the same, everything is fine (here we have a difference of less than one ton, or less than 10%, which seems reasonable).

Furthermore, we are continually working to make the model more accurate and comprehensive. If you feel an important topic is missing, please let us know!

Let's be honest, currently, no one emits less than 2 tons of greenhouse gases per year. If your footprint is around 4 or 5 tons, you've already made a big step forward.

It's about individual progress toward lifestyles that emit less greenhouse gases, but it's also essential that changes take place on a larger scale to facilitate the emergence of these lifestyles.

Thus, a community where citizens are taking up cycling (or another low-carbon mode) en masse will encourage its elected officials to promote new infrastructure and appropriate policies, which in turn will help others to take up cycling, and so on ♻️!

This 2-ton target is complicated, but it's what we must collectively achieve as quickly as possible, and no later than 2050, with steady progress each year, in order to limit global warming to +2°C and thus comply with the Paris Agreement. This "climate budget" is not a political decision, but rather stems from the planetary boundaries identified by climate science. It is factual and non-negotiable, unless we want to risk the disastrous consequences associated with it, as extensively described in the IPCC reports.

To learn more, read our illustrated article on this topic: What is a carbon footprint?

By far the most advanced version of the model is the one for mainland France. Little by little, through contributions and requests, we are adding components to improve versions dedicated to overseas territories or other countries. The available countries can be found on our International page. These should currently be considered "beta" versions, not finalized.

Furthermore, the model has already been translated into English, for greater inclusivity.

Why is internationalization important? Certain model parameters, particularly the electricity mix footprint (in gCO₂ₑ/kWh), significantly influence the final result, which will therefore not be valid in Belgium, Congo, Quebec, Algeria, or elsewhere. Wondering what your footprint would look like in one of these countries? You can change your region on this page.

Everything we consume, use, and then discard requires materials and energy. Whether during the production, use, or end-of-life phases of the good or service, all our activities contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Some a lot, others very little.

Eating a kilogram of potatoes, driving 10,000 km in a car, streaming a video... all emit greenhouse gases (GHG), but obviously in very different proportions. And we don't always have these figures in mind.

To understand everything, find our full article on carbon footprint: definition, calculation, and actions to reduce it here.

This is a very complex subject, on several levels.

First, there is the problem of double counting. Indeed, the emissions from fossil fuels financed by banks are counted for those who use them. Counting the savings footprint therefore means double-counting the consumption related to what these savings financed.

For example, your bank may finance oil extraction off the coast of Siberia, but this oil is extracted so that someone, somewhere, can drive 10 km, heat a home, or produce plastic. In the model, it is the consumption of cars, housing, and plastic that are attributed these emissions.

There is also the difficulty of counting the carbon footprint of savings. Initiatives exist (such as Oxfam's, for example), but we are far from a consensus on calculation methods.

For these two reasons, the carbon footprint of your savings is not currently assessed as part of Our Climate Actions.

Nevertheless, we are aware that choosing a bank has a significant impact on society. Action is needed at all levels! That's why we've added an "uncounted" action (which doesn't generate a carbon footprint gain) called "Investing Your Money Wisely."

It's a complicated subject, to say the least!

Our Climate Actions is an individual footprint calculator. We consider that every human, child or adult, has their own footprint.

Of course, a child didn't choose to be born, and somewhere along the line, one or two adults decided to bring a new individual into the world, who will have a carbon footprint. One might think we should attribute it to them. But then, for how long? Your footprint shouldn't be attributed to your parents!

Moreover, we're lucky: French demographics are fairly stable, and there's little risk of seeing our individual budgets shrink due to explosive demographics.

Il peut être frustrant de se voir comptabiliser des impacts pour lesquels nous n’avons aucun levier d’action direct.

Mais c’est là tout l’enjeu de la transition au sens large !

Cette transition ne peut se penser seulement à l’échelle individuelle. Elle est une condition nécessaire mais non suffisante d’une transition plus globale à l’échelle de notre société. Cela revient donc à jouer avec des leviers d’actions indirects (vote, engagement associatif, sensibilisation autour de soi, etc.).

Nous en avons intégré quelques-uns dans le parcours action après le test.

This item represents the carbon footprint of French public services, as well as a range of “basic” services (including telecoms, for example) that are difficult to avoid, scaled down to an individual level. In other words, the impact of all these services is spread over the 67 million French people.

So, in a way, everyone is ‘doing their bit’, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, it is extremely rare, if not almost impossible, to live without ever using a single public service. Whether it's health services, improved roads, education or, more generally, anything else that is funded by taxes, everyone benefits from public services. What's more, these services and their funding are voted on each year by the Assembly and defined by a regularly elected government.

Secondly, trying to account for the proportion of a public service that an individual uses ‘for real’ is not only impossible, it is also undesirable. You may never have had to deal with the courts or a public hospital before, but you may have to in the months ahead.

No.

Nos Gestes Climat is dedicated to assessing your individual carbon footprint. Travel you make as part of your work (such as delivering to a client, traveling to a meeting, flying to attend a 3-day seminar, etc.) is not included when answering the calculator's questions.

These professional trips will be included in your organization's (company, community, association, etc.) carbon footprint. These are referred to as Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reports (BEGES).

However, regular commuting is required. Why? Because, personally, you have control over the type of transportation you choose to use and where you live.

However, the reality is often quite different, and we have no intention of blaming those whose daily travel revolves around the car because they live far from their workplace. Even if some choices can be questioned, many of us are, in fact, forced to use a private car, due to the lack of serious alternatives available (public transport, teleworking, carpooling, etc.).

Our Climate Actions is, above all, a tool designed for the general public. That's why we wanted to limit the number of questions to the aspects we know are the most important (and impactful) in our diet.

We know there are many things missing from the current model. The diversity of dietary practices is almost infinite!

Our tool is freely accessible, and everyone's contribution is both possible and welcome. So, please feel free to share your suggestions for improvement if you feel there's a significant gap in the model.

Unfortunately, factoring the use of a personal vegetable garden into the Our Climate Actions calculator is quite complex.

It would be necessary to:

• ask what proportion of your food this affects (so people need to be able to assess it, which is far from obvious)
• know your production method (with or without inputs?)
• have data on the differences in footprint between "homemade" and "professionally produced" products, which we don't have today

At a minimum, we could subtract the transportation portion (for vegetables, half the footprint, much less for other foods)... but the calculation would be very partial.

Nevertheless, carbon is not the be-all and end-all of environmental issues! And growing your own vegetable garden is an excellent way to nourish your soil as well as your family, as well as to promote biodiversity in your home (at least, without pesticides...).

To date, data indicates that for equal production and products, organic farming requires larger agricultural plots, reducing the size of forests and natural areas, areas essential for carbon sequestration. This is why, on a global scale and for equal quantities consumed, from a carbon and carbon perspective alone, organic farming tends to have a "greater impact" on the climate than conventional agriculture.

But of course, this is no reason not to eat organic!

From soil and groundwater pollution to biodiversity loss and the preservation of farmers' health, organic food significantly reduces many other environmental impacts while also reducing risks to our health. Here, we are touching on environmental issues in general, and we must take a step back from a calculation focused on greenhouse gases.

For now, we've only included solar thermal panels in the action section. Indeed, the savings are already included, to some extent, in your (reduced) energy bill.

However, we will consider integrating this heating method during the simulator, as it will:

• Recognize the people who have made this choice and made this investment
• Educate people about this heating method, which is not yet widely known
• Avoid suggesting that people who have already installed this system do so at the end of the process

This should be effective around 2025.

Assessing the impacts of digital technology, and more specifically of "dematerialized" content (streaming, video conferencing, cloud storage, emailing, AI queries, etc.), is still a topic of ongoing work among technical and institutional stakeholders. 80% of the digital footprint is due to the devices themselves (and 20% to their usage).

Furthermore, it would complicate and lengthen the test considerably to ask too many specific questions about your digital usage.

One tool, however, is perfectly suited for this: Digital Uses of CO2 Impact!