CSR and regeneration glossary

154 terms on CSR, climate, nature, work and reporting, defined in a few sentences and linked to a reference source.

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Emissions pathway consistent with limiting warming to 1.5 °C with no or limited overshoot. According to the IPCC (AR6), it requires cutting global GHG emissions by about 43% between 2019 and 2030 and reaching net zero CO₂ emissions in the early 2050s. Corporate targets validated by SBTi refer to it.

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A

ACT methodology Methods and concepts

Initiative launched in 2015 by ADEME and CDP, originally “Assessing low-Carbon Transition”, now “Accelerate Climate Transition”. It assesses, sector by sector, how far a company’s strategy is aligned with a low-carbon pathway (ACT Evaluation) and supports the design of a transition plan (ACT Step by Step), including for SMEs.

B

B Corp Labels and standards

A private certification awarded by the non-profit B Lab. Since 2026 it no longer rests on an 80-point score: companies must meet minimum requirements across seven impact topics, verified by a third party, and write stakeholder consideration into their articles of association.

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Base Empreinte® Reporting

Public ADEME database gathering the reference emission factors and inventory datasets used in France, including those of the former Base Carbone®. It underpins organisational carbon accounting (regulatory GHG reports, Bilan Carbone®) and environmental labelling of products and services.

C

Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) Regulation

EU mechanism (Regulation (EU) 2023/956) applying to imports of cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen a carbon price equivalent to that of the EU ETS, to limit carbon leakage. After a transitional reporting phase (2023-2025), the definitive regime has applied since 1 January 2026, with an exemption for importers of less than 50 tonnes per year.

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Carbon budget Climate and energy

Maximum cumulative amount of CO₂ that can still be emitted globally to limit warming to a given level with a given probability. Assessed by the IPCC, this remaining budget shrinks every year in line with emissions. In France, the term also refers to the emission caps per period set by the National Low-Carbon Strategy (SNBC).

See also: 1.5 °C pathway

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Carbon capture and storage (CCS) Climate and energy

Set of techniques that capture CO₂ from an industrial or energy facility, transport it and inject it permanently into a geological formation. Regulated in the EU by Directive 2009/31/EC, it reduces emissions from a fossil source without removing CO₂ from the atmosphere; only capture of biogenic or atmospheric CO₂ followed by storage yields net removals.

See also: 1.5 °C pathway

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CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) Climate and energy

Common unit expressing the effect of different greenhouse gases as the amount of CO₂ that would cause the same radiative forcing over a given period. Conversion uses the global warming potential (GWP), usually over 100 years, published by the IPCC. Emission inventories are reported in tonnes of CO₂e (tCO₂e).

D

Decarbonisation Climate and energy

Reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions of an activity, organisation or economy, mainly through sufficiency, energy efficiency, electrification and the replacement of fossil fuels. It is measured as a cut in physical emissions, independently of any credit purchase. France’s framework is the National Low-Carbon Strategy (SNBC).

E

Ecodesign Resources and circularity

Integration of environmental impacts from the design stage of a product or service, across its whole life cycle, usually based on a life cycle assessment. In the EU, Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR) allows requirements to be set on durability, reparability, recycled content and efficiency, together with a digital product passport.

See also: Energy efficiency

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Energy efficiency Climate and energy

Ratio between the service delivered (output, comfort, mobility) and the energy consumed to provide it; improving it means delivering the same service with less energy. Directive (EU) 2023/1791 makes “energy efficiency first” a guiding principle and sets an EU consumption reduction target for 2030. It complements, but does not replace, sufficiency.

See also: Energy efficiency

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Energy sufficiency Climate and energy

Reducing energy demand by questioning needs and uses (sizing, organisation, behaviour) before any technical improvement. The IPCC recognises sufficiency as a mitigation lever; in France, the sufficiency plan launched in 2022 aimed to cut energy consumption by 10% within two years. It comes before and complements efficiency.

See also: Energy efficiency

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Engagé RSE label (AFNOR) Labels and standards

A label issued by AFNOR Certification after an assessment of an organisation’s CSR approach based on ISO 26000. It assigns a maturity level, up to “exemplary”, valid for three years with a mid-term follow-up assessment. It recognises an approach at a given point in time, without guaranteeing future results.

See also: Sustainable procurement

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EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) Regulation

EU carbon market created by Directive 2003/87/EC and operating since 2005 on a cap-and-trade basis: each allowance permits one tonne of CO₂e and the cap falls every year. It covers power and heat generation, heavy industry, aviation and maritime transport. A second system (ETS2) for buildings and road transport has been postponed to 2028.

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EU taxonomy Sustainable finance

A classification of environmentally sustainable economic activities set by Regulation (EU) 2020/852. Since 2026 a delegated act has eased its use (10% materiality threshold, shorter templates), and only companies subject to the CSRD and financial institutions must disclose its indicators.

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F

Farmers’ seeds Biodiversity

Seeds selected, multiplied and conserved by farmers in their own fields, often from heterogeneous, evolving population varieties that are generally not listed in the Official Catalogue. They contribute to cultivated biodiversity and the local adaptation of crops; their exchange and sale remain governed by seed legislation.

See also: Double materiality

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French Tertiary Decree (Éco Énergie Tertiaire) Regulation

Obligation under French Decree No. 2019-771 requiring tertiary buildings of 1,000 m² or more to cut final energy consumption by 40% by 2030, 50% by 2040 and 60% by 2050 against a reference year (or to meet an absolute threshold). Owners and occupiers report consumption annually on ADEME’s OPERAT platform.

See also: Energy efficiency

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Functional economy Resources and circularity

A business model that sells the use or performance of a good rather than the good itself (leasing, subscription, pay-per-use), with the supplier retaining ownership. It creates an incentive to design durable, repairable, well-maintained products; ADEME speaks of a functional and cooperative economy when several local stakeholders are involved.

G

Gender equality at work Social and work

Equal treatment and equal pay between women and men. In France, companies with at least 50 employees publish each year, by 1 March, a Gender Equality Index scored out of 100. Pay Transparency Directive (EU) 2023/970 was due to be transposed by 7 June 2026; the French bill presented in September 2026 would replace the Index with new indicators.

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GHG Protocol Reporting

Set of international greenhouse gas accounting standards developed since 1998 by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and WBCSD. Its Corporate Standard introduced the distinction between scopes 1, 2 and 3, supplemented by dedicated Scope 2 and Scope 3 standards. It is the reference for the ESRS, the ISSB and SBTi; several revisions are under way.

See also: Double materiality

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H

Hedgerow Biodiversity

A row of trees, shrubs and herbaceous vegetation, often on a bank or alongside a ditch, that structures the bocage landscape. It hosts significant biodiversity, limits erosion and runoff, stores carbon and shelters crops and livestock. France’s Hedgerow Pact (2023) targets a net gain of 50,000 km of hedgerows by 2030.

I

Impact investing Sustainable finance

Investment made with the intention of generating positive, measurable social or environmental impact alongside a financial return that may be below or in line with market rates depending on the strategy. It differs from ESG integration through intentionality, the pursuit of additionality and the measurement of results achieved.

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Industrial and territorial ecology Resources and circularity

A collective approach in which businesses in the same area optimise resource use by exchanging flows of materials, energy or water (substitution synergies, where one firm’s waste or by-products become another’s inputs) or by pooling equipment, services and purchasing (pooling synergies). It is also known as industrial symbiosis.

See also: Double materiality

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ISO 14001 (environmental management) Labels and standards

An international standard specifying requirements for an environmental management system: context, significant environmental aspects, compliance obligations, objectives and continual improvement. The ISO 14001:2026 edition, published in April 2026, opens a three-year transition. Certification, issued by a third-party body, attests to a management system, not to a level of performance.

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ISO 26000 Governance

International guidance standard on social responsibility, organised around seven core subjects: governance, human rights, labour practices, environment, fair operating practices, consumer issues, community involvement. It is not certifiable.

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ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety) Labels and standards

An international standard published in 2018 setting requirements for an occupational health and safety management system; it replaced OHSAS 18001. It aims to prevent work-related injuries and ill health through hazard identification, worker consultation and participation, and continual improvement. Certification is issued by third-party bodies.

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ISO 50001 (energy management) Labels and standards

An international standard (2018 edition) setting requirements for an energy management system: energy review, performance indicators, energy baseline, action plans and continual improvement. Energy Efficiency Directive (EU) 2023/1791 requires such a system for the largest energy consumers and accepts it as an alternative to the energy audit for other companies.

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ISSB (International Sustainability Standards Board) Reporting

A standard-setting board created in 2021 within the IFRS Foundation. Its IFRS S1 (general requirements) and IFRS S2 (climate) standards, published in June 2023, target sustainability information useful to investors, following a financial materiality approach. Whether they are mandatory depends on adoption by each jurisdiction.

L

Label Bas-Carbone Labels and standards

The French state’s voluntary certification framework for emission reduction or sequestration projects in France (forestry, farming, hedgerows, peatlands…). It makes it possible to fund certified local projects, whose reductions are verified afterwards.

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Land sufficiency Resources and circularity

A planning principle that limits the consumption of natural, agricultural and forest land by favouring urban renewal, densification, the reuse of brownfields and vacant buildings, and shared use of space. The operational lever of France’s no-net-land-take objective, it also applies to businesses (sites, extensions, car parks).

M

Mission-driven company (société à mission) Governance

A status that French companies may adopt since the 2019 PACTE Act by writing a purpose (raison d’être) and social and environmental objectives into their articles of association. A mission committee including at least one employee monitors them (a single mission officer suffices below 50 employees), and an independent third party verifies their execution at least every two years.

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Mitigation hierarchy (avoid, reduce, offset) Regulation

A regulatory approach, part of French law since 1976 and strengthened by the 2016 biodiversity law, requiring environmental harm first to be avoided, then reduced where it cannot be avoided, and only as a last resort offset for residual impacts. Ecological offsetting carries an obligation of results and a no-net-loss objective for biodiversity; it never replaces avoidance or reduction.

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N

Natural capital Biodiversity

The stock of renewable and non-renewable natural resources (plants, animals, air, water, soils, minerals) that yields a flow of goods and services to people. The Natural Capital Protocol (2016) provides a framework for organisations to identify, measure and value their impacts and dependencies on this capital.

O

Obligation to employ disabled workers (OETH) Social and work

The obligation for any French employer with at least 20 employees to have 6% of its average annual workforce made up of eligible beneficiaries, notably recognised disabled workers. It is reported through the DSN payroll declaration. If the rate is not met, the company pays a contribution collected by Urssaf for Agefiph; certain purchases from sheltered and adapted enterprises reduce it.

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Omnibus package (EU simplification) Regulation

A series of legislative simplification packages presented by the European Commission since February 2025. Omnibus I first postponed CSRD deadlines by two years (“stop-the-clock” Directive (EU) 2025/794); Directive (EU) 2026/470 then narrowed the CSRD to companies with over 1,000 employees and €450 million turnover and reduced the scope of the CSDDD.

P

Paris Agreement Climate and energy

International treaty adopted at COP21 in December 2015 under the UNFCCC, in force since November 2016. It aims to hold warming well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels while pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5 °C. Each Party submits a nationally determined contribution (NDC) every five years.

See also: 1.5 °C pathway

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Payment for environmental services (PES) Sustainable finance

Voluntary, contract-based remuneration paid to land managers, often farmers, in return for practices that maintain or restore ecosystem services: water quality, biodiversity, carbon storage, landscapes. In France, a public PES scheme has been funded by the water agencies since 2019 under the national Biodiversity Plan.

See also: Sustainable procurement

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Permaculture Methods and concepts

A method for designing sustainable human systems (gardens, farms, housing, organisations) modelled on how ecosystems work, formalised in Australia in the 1970s by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. It rests on three ethics — earth care, people care and fair share — and a set of design principles.

Q

Quality of working life and working conditions (QVCT) Social and work

An approach that seeks to reconcile better working conditions, employee health and company performance by acting on work content and organisation, management, social dialogue and work-life balance. Stemming from the French national cross-industry agreement of 9 December 2020, the concept replaced quality of working life (QVT) in mandatory bargaining under the Act of 2 August 2021.

R

Re-use of waste Resources and circularity

Under French law (Article L541-1-1 of the Environmental Code), any operation by which substances, materials or products that have become waste are used again, after preparing for re-use (checking, cleaning, repair). French law distinguishes it from réemploi (reuse), which concerns items that never acquired waste status.

See also: Sustainable procurement

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RGESN (French eco-design standard) Resources and circularity

The French general reference framework for the eco-design of digital services, set by the regulators Arcep and Arcom with ADEME (2024 version). Greencelium follows it: light pages, no trackers or web fonts, little JavaScript.

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S

SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative) Climate and energy

Organisation, born from a partnership between CDP, the UN Global Compact, WRI and WWF, that sets standards and validates companies’ emission reduction targets against climate science (1.5 °C alignment). A streamlined route exists for SMEs. Version 2.0 of its Corporate Net-Zero Standard was published in 2026.

See also: 1.5 °C pathway

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SBTN (Science Based Targets Network) Methods and concepts

An international network of organisations developing methods that enable companies and cities to set science-based targets for nature, complementing SBTi climate targets. Its five-step approach (assess, prioritise, measure and set, act, track) covers freshwater and land in particular; the first corporate targets were validated in 2024.

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SCOP and SCIC (French cooperative companies) Governance

French cooperative companies. In a SCOP (worker cooperative), employee members hold at least 51% of the capital and 65% of voting rights, on a “one person, one vote” basis. A SCIC (collective-interest cooperative) brings together at least three categories of members, including employees or producers and beneficiaries, around a project of collective interest.

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Scopes 1, 2 and 3 Climate and energy

GHG Protocol categories: direct emissions (scope 1), emissions from purchased energy (scope 2) and all other value-chain emissions, upstream and downstream (scope 3), often the largest.

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SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation) Sustainable finance

Regulation (EU) 2019/2088, applicable since March 2021, requiring financial market participants to disclose how they integrate sustainability risks and principal adverse impacts, and distinguishing products promoting environmental or social characteristics (Article 8) from those with a sustainable investment objective (Article 9). A review proposed in November 2025, introducing new product categories, is under negotiation.

See also: Sustainable procurement

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Skills-based corporate philanthropy Social and work

The provision of employees, free of charge and during working hours, to a public-interest organisation. Valued at cost (salary and social charges, capped at three times the French social security ceiling per employee), it qualifies for the tax reduction under Article 238 bis of the French Tax Code: 60%, within a limit of €20,000 or 0.5% of turnover excluding VAT.

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Social and Economic Committee (CSE) Social and work

The employee representative body required in French companies with at least 11 employees for 12 consecutive months, created in 2017 by merging staff delegates, the works council and the health and safety committee. From 50 employees, it is consulted on strategic orientations, the economic situation and social policy, including their environmental consequences.

See also: Sustainable procurement

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Social and solidarity economy (SSE) Social and work

A way of doing business defined in France by the Act of 31 July 2014, bringing together associations, cooperatives, mutuals, foundations and commercial companies that meet its principles: an aim other than profit-sharing alone, democratic governance, profits mainly devoted to maintaining or developing the activity, and mandatory non-distributable reserves.

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Social dialogue Social and work

According to the International Labour Organization, all types of negotiation, consultation and exchange of information between representatives of governments, employers and workers on economic and social matters of common interest. Within a company, it takes the form of collective bargaining, employee representative bodies such as the CSE, and direct employee voice.

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SRI label (French socially responsible investment label) Sustainable finance

A public label created in 2016 by the French Ministry of the Economy for funds that integrate ESG criteria. Its revised framework, applicable since 1 March 2024, notably excludes companies active in coal or unconventional hydrocarbons and those launching new oil or gas projects. Awarded by accredited certification bodies, it guarantees neither financial performance nor impact.

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Stakeholders Governance

Individuals or groups with an interest in an organisation’s decisions or activities (ISO 26000): employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, financiers, local authorities, neighbours and associations. The ESRS distinguish affected stakeholders, with nature as a possible silent stakeholder, from users of sustainability information. Engagement with them underpins the materiality assessment.

See also: Double materiality

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Sufficiency Resources and circularity

A set of measures and daily practices that avoid demand for energy, materials, land and water while delivering human well-being for all within planetary boundaries (IPCC definition, 2022). Unlike efficiency, which reduces consumption per unit of service, it questions the level and nature of needs themselves.

T

TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) Reporting

Task force set up in 2015 by the Financial Stability Board, whose 2017 recommendations structure climate-related disclosures around four pillars: governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets. Disbanded in October 2023, it has been incorporated into the ISSB’s IFRS S2 standard, with the IFRS Foundation now in charge of monitoring.

U

UN Global Compact Governance

A voluntary United Nations initiative launched in 2000 that invites companies to align their strategies and operations with ten principles on human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption. Participants publish an annual Communication on Progress; joining is neither a label nor a certification.

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V

Value chain Reporting

All the activities, resources and relationships linked to a company’s business model, upstream (suppliers, raw materials) and downstream (distribution, use, end of life), in addition to its own operations. Under the CSRD, impacts, risks and opportunities are assessed across the whole value chain; since Omnibus I, information requested from partners with fewer than 1,000 employees is in principle capped at the voluntary standard.

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Value sharing (employee profit-sharing) Social and work

Schemes giving employees a share in company results: statutory profit-sharing (mandatory from 50 employees), incentive schemes, the value-sharing bonus and employer contributions to employee savings plans. Since 1 January 2025, the French Act of 29 November 2023 requires, on an experimental basis, companies with 11 to 49 employees and net profit of at least 1% of turnover for three consecutive years to set one up.

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VSME Reporting

A voluntary sustainability reporting standard for SMEs, published by EFRAG and recommended by the European Commission in July 2025. Having become the CSRD voluntary standard in 2026, it caps, from financial year 2027, the data that CSRD companies can require from value-chain partners with fewer than 1,000 employees.

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W

Waste hierarchy Resources and circularity

The order of priority set by Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC and transposed in Article L541-1 of the French Environmental Code: prevention, preparing for re-use, recycling, other recovery (notably energy recovery) and disposal. Higher options should be preferred unless life-cycle thinking justifies departing from this order for specific waste streams.

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