BeTruth20® Index
The Be Truth 20 Index is the application of Axylia's Carbon Score® to Belgian listed companies.
Current indices are based on market capitalisation but do not reflect the environmental impact of companies. That is why Axylia has chosen to establish its own index in order to guide investors and individuals towards companies whose financial value creation offsets the damage caused by CO2 to the environment.
BeTruth20® Index composition in 2025
The BeTruth20® index thus brings together listed Belgian companies that would be able to pay their carbon bill now and in the future, thanks to genuine decarbonisation efforts.
8 companies have therefore been excluded from the BEL20, which is why the majority of companies included in Axylia's BeTruth20® are not at the top of the current benchmark indices.
Applying the Axylia Carbon Score® to the 42 listed Belgian companies yields the distribution shown opposite. It appears that more than half of these companies are unable to pay their carbon bill (scores D, E, F or ND).
ND
12%
F
17%
A
21%
B
12%
E
12%
D
12%
C
14%
Based on carbon and financial data for 2024
For the financial sector, a Carbon Maturity Score is applied. Only institutions that publish their CO2e emissions in strict accordance with the PCAF (Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials) methodology receive a positive score (A, B or C).
How is the BeTruth20® Index calculated?
To determine the BeTruth20, we follow a methodology similar to that used to calculate the Vérité40, based on the top 40 Belgian market capitalisations.
1.
Based on the top 40 Belgian market capitalisations, calculation of the Axylia Carbon Score® for each company, from A to F.
2.
Carbon Scores® of D, E, F and ND are disregarded.
3.
We select the top 20 companies, which we rank by market capitalisation.
Areas of concern
Check 1: The financial sector
According to the CDP, the largest source of emissions in the financial services sector comes from lending, investment and insurance activities, i.e. portfolio emissions, which are accounted for in Scope 3 category 15, ‘Investments’. As Scope 3 is incomplete, some financial institutions (particularly banks) receive an ‘ND’ score. However, those that use the PCAF* methodology are not automatically excluded, and we assign them a carbon maturity score that reflects the transparency and maturity of their Scope 3 reporting.
*The Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) is a global initiative used by more than 450 financial institutions to harmonise the accounting of greenhouse gas emissions for these institutions.
Check 3: Sector anomaly
The analysis shows that companies reporting the highest emissions volumes are those that provide the most comprehensive breakdowns. Axylia therefore excludes companies whose Scope 3 emissions are significantly lower than the average for their sector or whose emissions calculations are incomplete. This includes, in particular, the absence of essential Scope 3 categories, such as the impact of customer travel in the hotel sector or product promotion in the advertising sector.
Which companies will be excluded in 2025 ?
Following checks carried out by Axylia, the companies listed opposite have been rejected from the model because they received an insufficient Carbon Score and are therefore unable to pay their carbon bill.