Avoided emissions are one of the company's positive contributions to the fight against climate change.
According to Adème⁽¹⁾, a company's CO₂ avoided emissions concern the reductions in CO₂ emissions achieved by its activities, products and/or services, when these reductions occur outside its direct scope of activity.
According to the Net Zero Initiative⁽²⁾, to contribute to global neutrality, the company must, at its scale, act in three complementary ways according to the following principle:
 |
|||
| 2 levers to reach global neutrality | REDUCING EMISSIONS | DEVELOPING SINKS | |
| 3 initiatives at company level | Reducing my direct & indirect CO₂ emissions | Reducing others' emissions | Removing CO₂ from the atmosphere |
| ▼ | ▼ | ▼ | |
| Induced emissions | Avoided emissions | Negative emissions | |
| Inside my value chain | |||
| Operations | Direct emissions [scope 1 + 2] | - | Direct removals |
| Upstream & downstream | Indirect emissions [scope 3] | Emissions avoided by goods and services | Indirect removals |
| Outside of my value chain | - | Financing of reduction/ avoidance projects | Financing of carbon removal projects |
CO₂ avoided emissions from electricity generation
Taking the average carbon intensity of European electricity generation (including France) as a benchmark and considering direct and indirect emissions from electricity generation, the EDF Group's global electricity generation in 2023 avoided 92 MtCO₂. This performance is partly due to the very low carbon intensity of EDF's operating nuclear fleet in France, assessed at 4 gCO₂ per kWh according to a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) conducted by EDF R&D in 2022 based on 2019 data⁽³⁾.
Transcript
CO₂ emissions avoided thanks to sales of innovative products and services
- 4.4 MtCO₂ in 2021
- 11.4 MtCO₂ in 2022
- 12.4 MtCO₂ in 2023
- 30 MtCO₂ - 2030 Target
EDF supports its customers in their decarbonization process
When electricity is largely decarbonized, the development of sober and innovative uses of electricity and energy services adapted to different markets form is one of the key issus in the fight against global warming: promoting the use of heat pumps, electric mobility, energy efficiency solutions, developing ENR in heating networks, photovoltaic production (installations sold to customers and self-consumption, excluding EDF installations injecting their production into the grid). In 2023, 12.4 MtCO₂ were avoided by products and services supplied to our 34.3 million customers⁽⁴⁾.
How are CO₂ avoided emissions calculated?
To date, there is no recognized external reference calculation method, and the various methods used by external players are often complex, or even debatable, as they depend on the fictitious reference situation being compared to.
Back in 2017, the EDF Group defined principles for calculating emissions avoided by an activity, action or project. In 2023, these principles were updated.
To go further
⁽¹⁾ Source Ademe : What do we mean by avoided emissions? [French version] - January 2020 (PDF, 1 Mb)
⁽²⁾ Source Net Zero Initiative : A standard for collective carbon neutrality
⁽³⁾ Source EDF : URD 2023 - Chapitre 3.1.1.2.1.2. Consult the Periodic Information page
⁽⁴⁾ 34.3 million electricity customers in 2023. Consolidated scope. Counted per site.