Score Carbone Axylia®
The formula
For several years now, there has been much talk about CO2 emissions and climate change, and companies themselves have been quick to publish figures and data, using calculation methods and analysis criteria that are not always very clear. This situation is a source of confusion for investors wishing to invest responsibly, as well as for individuals who want to know more.
Faced with this lack of clarity and simplicity, we came up with the idea of creating the Axylia Carbon Score®.
Methodology
The Axylia Carbon Score® assesses, on a scale from A to F, a company's ability to pay its carbon bill and stabilise it over time. It tells investors and individuals whether the company is truly profitable and responsible, after accounting for the cost of the CO2 it emits.
When a company is not sufficiently transparent or does not disclose all of its emissions, we do not assign it a rating (ND).
Concretely, we first establish the real carbon bill of a company, using a unique calculation method which takes into account all of its CO2 emissions, including its indirect emissions (Scope 3), unfairly hidden in the traditional estimations. We thus integrate the extraction of raw materials, the recycling of the product, but also the transport or the subcontractors.
We then convert the number of tonnes of CO2 obtained into euros, according to the price calculated by leading international experts, in order to establish the overall cost of the company's emissions… which we then compare to its operating income.
Axylia's Carbon Score® is a dynamic tool, that is to say it takes into account the efforts made by a company to reduce its CO2 emissions. A company that takes concrete and ambitious measures to reduce its absolute emissions will be improved.
More and more players in the financial sector and individuals are expecting a commitment from companies in the fight against global warming consequences. Axylia's Carbon Score® is a simple, efficient and reliable tool to guide them and help them make the right decisions.
Axylia calculated the Carbon Score® of the 600 largest European stock market capitalisations using carbon data provided by the global specialist Trucost (Standard & Poor's group).
In practical terms, we first determine a company’s true carbon footprint using a unique calculation method that takes into account all of its CO2 emissions, including indirect emissions (Scope 3), which are unfairly overlooked in traditional estimates.
We thus factor in raw material extraction, product recycling, as well as transportation and subcontractors. We then convert the resulting number of metric tons of CO₂ into euros, based on the price calculated by leading international experts, to determine the company’s total emissions cost… which we then compare to its operating income.
The Axylia Carbon Score® is a dynamic tool that takes into account a company’s actual efforts to reduce its CO₂ emissions. A company that implements concrete—and, above all, ambitious—measures to reduce its absolute emissions will be recognized. To this end, we assess the evolution of carbon emissions (Scopes 1, 2, and 3) over time, taking into account both their historical trajectory and their climate commitments through 2030.
An increasing number of financial sector stakeholders and individuals are expecting companies to commit to combating global warming.
The Axylia Carbon Score® is a simple, effective, and reliable tool to guide them and help them make the right decisions. Axylia has calculated the carbon score of the 600 largest European companies by market capitalization using carbon data provided by the global specialist Trucost (part of Standard & Poor’s).
Using this tool, we have created the Vérité 40 Index, which brings together the 40 French publicly traded companies capable of covering their carbon costs today and in 2030.
Calculation of the Carbon Score® in 5 steps :
1.
CO2 emissions are calculated based on companies' sustainability reports, taking into account all scopes, including Scope 3, which accounts for an average of 80% of a company's emissions.
2.
These CO2 emissions are multiplied by the carbon cost published by the IPCC, which is €154 per metric ton (2025)*. This yields the Carbon Bill, which is subtracted from EBITDA** to determine “carbon-adjusted” EBITDA. This new metric is then compared to EBITDA to calculate the company’s Carbon Risk.
3.
An analysis covering the period 2019–2030 estimates companies’ ability to stabilize their carbon costs over time, and thus reduce their emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, as the cost of carbon rises by 4% per year (€122/t in 2019, €186/t in 2030).
4.
The Axylia® Carbon Score, which ranges from A to F, takes into account: the Carbon Risk for the reporting year, the projected trend in the Carbon Footprint through 2030, as well as the ambition of the company’s commitments and the alignment of its actual trajectory.
When a company is not sufficiently transparent or does not disclose all of its emissions, we do not assign it a score (ND).
5.
Finally, a company that experiences either an increase or an insufficient decrease in its carbon footprint but makes a significant contribution to the transition (alignment with the European taxonomy of more than 50% or emissions avoided as validated by Climate Dividends) will see its score improved.
* Trucost: a pioneer in researching and calculating the carbon footprint of companies, a subsidiary of Standard and Poor's
** EBITDA: operating profit (Earnings Before Interests, Taxes, Depreciations and Amortizations)
The Finance Score Carbone : An Application for the Financial Sector
The financial sector has a fundamental characteristic that sets it apart from all other sectors: its carbon footprint is generated almost entirely not by its own operations (branches, offices, etc.), but by the assets it finances in its investment and lending portfolios.
These so-called “financed” emissions account for more than 99% of the sector’s total climate impact, yet they remain largely absent from traditional ESG assessments.
To address this challenge, Axylia has developed the Carbon Score® Finance, an evolution of the original Carbon Score specifically calibrated to assess the depth, quality, and transparency of financial companies’ GHG reporting in light of the requirements of the PCAF® standard.
Adopted by more than 600 institutions worldwide, the PCAF® (Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials) standard provides a standardized framework, aligned with the GHG Protocol, TCFD, and CSRD, for measuring and disclosing GHG emissions across the financial value chain, structured into three standards: financed emissions (Part A), facilitated emissions (Part B), and insurance-related emissions (Part C).
PCAF Francemework
The Finance Score Carbone methodology
The Carbon Score® Finance assesses the compliance of financial institutions’ disclosures with PCAF® requirements based on publicly available data (DEU, Annual Report, Climate and Sustainability Report). It is based on 12 criteria, grouped into three complementary areas of maturity:
- the ability to calculate CO₂e emissions based on the portion of the portfolio covered by the calculation,
- the reliability of the calculation, which depends on data quality and the attribution method used,
- the transparency of reporting, including the publication of financed emissions broken down by asset class and across multiple fiscal years, to ensure the trajectory is verifiable.
A compliance percentage is calculated for each part (A, B, C), then weighted according to the institution’s business model to arrive at a total out of 100 points, where 0 corresponds to an “ND” score and 100 to an “A” score.
Receive our quarterly newsletter and be the first to discover our new solutions.