Carbo develops software solutions for individuals and businesses, focusing on two main areas to achieve this mission.
First, there's the data aspect, which involves calculating to accurately measure, and then being able to reduce one's carbon footprint. The second angle is education, so that people can grasp these concepts and engage in a process of awareness and reduction.
Individuals can, for example, connect to hellocarbo.com to understand and estimate their carbon footprint based on their banking expenses. Then there's Carbo for businesses, which works with small and medium enterprises to calculate the carbon footprint of their activities, their carbon balance. This solution is certified by the ABC, Association for the Low Carbon Transition, an offshoot of ADEME. With Carbo products, the company determines the carbon footprint of a product; or even a service with Carbo Services.
So what drives companies to want to improve? “The first lever is a business lever,” explains Simon Létourneau. “That is to say, to win tenders, to respond to clients.” It is worth noting that large companies are increasingly discriminating against suppliers based on their carbon footprint, just as they assess their financial stability.
Next, there is a much more philosophical reason about meaning, driven by employees. There is also a legal reason that motivates companies to potentially anticipate legislation, otherwise they could quickly find themselves overwhelmed.
“More than 200,000 people have already trusted Carbo's solutions, so that's a first form of impact, of awareness,” says Simon Létourneau. “We have then helped our clients and users reduce one million tons of CO2.”
But the most important thing for Carbo is the impact the organization has every day on its employees, past, present, and future, as it strives to create an ecological business model, with shared governance, a four-day work week, “believing that by working less, we are engaging in a form of systemic degrowth, which is necessary.”
The company practices salary transparency, which helps avoid gender biases in, for example, the salary aspect, but also with the four-day work week, since women are predominantly in part-time roles.
“So we are trying, at our level, to envision a work world that is a bit more ecological, a bit more feminist. And we are always open to more ideas on these topics,” Simon Létourneau expresses.
