French Legislation on the Publication of
Information on Carbon Dioxide Emissions of Transport Services
A draft briefing by INTERTANKO
The legislation of concern is Decree No. 2011-1336 of 24 October 2011"on information on the quantity of carbon dioxide emitted during transportservices" (Décret n°2011-1336 du 24octobre 2011 relatifà l'information sur la quantité de dioxyde de carbone émise à l'occasion d'uneprestation de transport).
The French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energypublished a "Methodological Guide" on the implementation of theDecree in October 2012. TheGuide can beaccessed at:
The following notes are the INTERTANKO understanding of the Decree and include reference to the Guide where relevant.
Scope
- The Decree entered into force on 1 October 2013. The date of entry intoforce was set by an Order of 10 April 2012 (Arrêtédu 10 avril 2012 pris pour l'application del'article 14 du décret n°2011-1336du 24 octobre 2011 relatif à l'information sur la quantité de dioxyde decarbone émise à l'occasion d'une prestation de transport).
- The Decree sets obligations for disclosingCO2 emissionsfrom transport. The Decree does not address the emission of greenhousegases other than CO2. Information is to be compiledby the transport “service providers”, andto be sent to the "direct beneficiaries" of the service. A “serviceprovider” is defined as “any private or public person organizing orselling atransport service for passengers, goods or moving purposes”. A“beneficiary” is defined asthe “co-contractor of the service provider”.
- TheDecree applies to the transport of goods and passengers, and covers all modesof transport (air, rail, road, river and sea transport). Interestingly, the Decree does not define theterm “goods”. Though anotherOrder of 10 April 2012 (Arrêté du 10 avril 2012 pris pour l'application des articles5, 6 et 8du décret n° 2011-1336 du 24 octobre 2011 relatif àl'information sur laquantité de dioxyde de carbone émise à l'occasiond'une prestation de transport), setting out rules for the implementation of the Decree, refers tocontainer ships, bulk carriers and tankers (as regards maritime transport).
- The Decreeconcerns all transport services with departure and/or arrival inFrance, including international transport. The Decree does, however, not apply to ships that are intransitin Frenchwaters, stopping in French waters/ports for re-fuelling or for other technical stops and ships which have no goods (for tankers, tankers in ballast only).
- The legislation concerns both emissions during operation("operating phase"), as well as emissions during the "upstream phase",i.e. during "extraction, refining,transformation, distribution etc.".
Methods for calculating carbon dioxide emissions
The Decree sets out the methods that are to be used by the serviceproviders to calculate carbon dioxide emissions. The Decree defines fourdifferent methods (Level 1,2, 3 and 4),whereby Level 1 requires the leastdetailed information from service providers, and is therefore also the leastaccurate. An overview of the different Levels isprovided below. Note thatLevel1 is most relevant at this stage; it requires the least information fromservice providers, and can be used by all service providers at leastuntil 1July 2016.
* Level 1- Applicable to all service providers until 1 July 2016; the deadline isto be re-evaluated before 1 January 2016. After 1 July 2016 (or re-evaluateddate) only serviceproviders of less than 50employees can use this method.
- Under this method carbon dioxide emissions are calculated on the basisof default emission rates (in g CO2 / tonne * km) multiplied by the relevantdistance travelledand the weight oftransported goods. The latter can bederived from online distance calculators (such as: and shipping documents. Thedefault emission valuesfor differenttransport modes are set out in the Order of 10 April 2012, andarebased on mean values derived from official statistics. The Order can befound on Pages 219 to 228 of the MethodologicalGuide.
- An emission calculation example for a tanker is given on Page 71 ofthe Methodological Guide.
* Levels 2, 3 and 4- Applicable to all service providers of more than 50 employees after 1July 2016; the deadline is also to be re-evaluated before 1 January 2016. TheDecree does notset out binding rulesas to when the different Levels 2, 3 or 4are to be used, which would seem to mean that the company can choose to use themost appropriate level,based on the type of service provided.
- Under Level 2 the method for calculating emissions is the same asunder Level 1, but the mean specific emission rates are to be calculated by serviceproviders for all theiractivities over aperiod of maximum three years. Accordingto the Guidelines, the level 2 method should not be used when the activities ofa service provider areheterogeneous, but this does not seem to bea legalrequirement.
- Under Level 3 the method is the same as under Level 2, but the meanemission rates are to be calculated specifically for various activities (i.e.for the different means oftransport, differentroutes, different customersetc.). Mean emission rates are again to be calculated over a period ofmaximum three years.
- Under Level 4 emissions are to be calculated based on directmeasurements of the energy consumed for each service provided.
- Detailed information on Levels 2 to 4 methods is provided on Pages 19to 26 of the Methodological Guide. Furthermore, an emission calculationexample for a shippingcompany providinga wide range of shipping activities(including the carriage of oil) using Level 3 method is given on Pages 71 and72 of the Methodological Guide.
- The Level 4 method might remind of the requirement under the EU MRV Proposal.
Disclosure of information
Information on emissions resulting from the transport of goods is tobe provided by the service providers to the beneficiaries in any format,including by e-mail or viaonline databases.Providers and beneficiaries are toagree on when the information is to be provided, though this information has tobe provided at the latest two monthsafter the provision of the service. Thismeans that first information under the Decree will have to be provided at thelatest by 1 December 2013.
Key messages
- Data on carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the transport of goodsis to be published from 1 October 2013 for journeys arriving and/or departingin France. Thedata is to beprovided by the service providers to thedirect beneficiaries.
- As of 1 July 2016 an obligation to collect additional data will enterinto force similar to those under the European Commission Proposal on MRV.This would be 1.5years before theproposed start of reporting under the EU MRVProposal. But, this deadline can still be postponed. A decision to do sois to be taken before 1 January2016. As a reminder, theCommissionproposes that the MRV systemapply to shipping activities carried out from 1 January 2018, but this, too,may change as theCouncil and Parliament reviewthe proposal.
Control
The Decree, and the Orders setting out implementing rules, do notestablish specific control mechanisms. The Decree (Article 15) only specifiesthat the disclosure of information on carbon dioxideemissions is mandatory,and that the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy andthe Ministry of the Interior are responsible for the enforcement of theDecree (and the implementingrules established thereunder).
However, it is interesting to note that the website of the Ministry ofEcology, Sustainable Development and Energy states under “Frequently AskedQuestions” that for the time being no sanctions are to beimposed in the caseof non-compliance with the obligations to disclose information under theDecree.(Website updated on 1 October 2013: "What sanctions would beimposed if a transport company refuses to communicate information about its CO2emissions to a beneficiary?" - "The option of imposingsuchsanctions was discussed during the consultation process, and the outcome ofthesediscussions was that sanctions should not be imposed for the time being” - Roughtranslation from the following page inFrench -
Verification
The Decree refers in Article 10 to verifiers that are to analyse thecompliance of service providers with the provisions of the Decree (and theimplementing rules established thereunder). Verifiers are tobe certified bythe French Accreditation Committee (Comité français d'accréditation,COFRAC: or another accreditation body recognised by a member of the EuropeanCo-operation for Accreditation ( The criteria to be applied when certifyingverifiers is to be set out in an Order. To date no such order has been putforward.
Consultation of stakeholders
As for the consultation of interested parties regarding these new rules,in this case the Decree states that the Higher Council of the Merchant Navy(Conseil supérieur dela marinemarchande - consulted when preparing the legislation. The Higher Council comprisesrepresentativesof industry associations,including the Armateurs de France ( the OEET (French Observatory forEnergy, the Environment andTransport), comprising a wide range of interested stakeholders (also includingthe Armateursde France) was consulted in the drafting of the methodologicalguide.
Apparently, foreign stakeholders were not consulted. INTERTANKO expects advice about a general rule for consultation ofstakeholders when a French lawimpacts foreign interests and based on such advice may decided on further action.