- 1Diag Décarbon'Action funds 40% of a €10,000 excl. VAT package, leaving €6,000 excl. VAT payable.
- 2Regional funding (ADEME, regional councils) generally covers 20 to 50%, with rules on combining funding set by each funder.
- 3Sector funds sometimes co-fund decarbonisation studies, an option that remains underused.
- 4Diag first, regional funding next, sector funds last.
- What funding can reduce the cost of a Bilan Carbone®?
The Diag reduces the bill to €6,000 excl. VAT, with regional funding offering further options.
- Diag Décarbon'Action: 40% of a €10,000 excl. VAT fixed fee is funded, leaving €6,000 excl. VAT for the company to pay.
- Regional funding (ADEME, regional authorities): generally 20 to 50%, rarely combined with the Diag.
- For an industrial SME with 80 employees: €6,000 to €7,000 excl. VAT paid by the company, rather than the full price of €14,000.
Many SMEs pay the full price for their Bilan Carbone® without checking which funding they qualify for. Check these schemes in order before accepting a quotation.
1Diag Décarbon'Action: the main scheme
It is the best known and, by far, the most advantageous. Diag Décarbon'Action is run by ADEME and Bpifrance. It funds part of a full Bilan Carbone® (scopes 1, 2 and 3, an action plan and presentation of findings), carried out by a Bilan Carbone®-certified expert or equivalent, approved by ADEME, Bpifrance and the ABC.
Which funding for your circumstances
The right scheme depends on size, operating history and region.
It is available to companies with fewer than 500 employees, including micro-businesses, that have been operating for at least 1 year and have not carried out a GHG assessment in the past 5 years. The consultancy must be listed by Bpifrance.
The scheme funds 40% of a €10,000 excl. VAT package, leaving €6,000 excl. VAT payable by you, compared with €10,000 to €30,000 excl. VAT for a private service depending on complexity. For a first assessment, it is the cheapest option, as our analysis of Diag versus a conventional Bilan Carbone® shows.
The scheme's official information presents it as available, with no application deadline. As it relies on a public budget, check that it is still open when you start the application.
2Regional funding: the complementary scheme
ADEME's regional offices (ADEME) and regional councils manage local budgets that can co-fund part of environmental studies, including Bilan Carbone® assessments. Arrangements vary by region, with funding rates generally ranging from 20 to 50% and a ceiling specific to each scheme.
A few examples in 2026:
- Île-de-France: CCI Paris Île-de-France offers a full Bilan Carbone® subsidised by ADEME and the ERDF, and the regional TP'up and PM'up schemes can support environmental performance measures
- Hauts-de-France: Booster Transformation Rev3, run by the regional council, covers 50% of support from an expert, up to €10,000 excl. VAT
- Grand Est: the Climaxion programme, run by ADEME and the regional council, brings together business transition funding, with rates to check for each project
- Elsewhere: the Mission transition écologique funding search engine lists schemes by region, and your CCI or ADEME's regional office can advise you
There is no general rule for combining this funding with the Diag: the official Diag information says nothing about it, and each funder sets its own conditions. It is particularly valuable for companies that are not eligible for the Diag. Some regions refuse to co-fund a study already supported by Bpifrance, while others allow funding to be combined for subsequent modules (SBTi support, a roadmap): check each case.
3Sector funds and other financing
Other public funding targets decarbonisation, but most funds investments rather than the assessment itself.
France 2030 funds industrial decarbonisation investments through calls for projects run by ADEME, mainly for mid-cap companies and large groups. A Bilan Carbone® alone is not eligible.
ADEME's Fonds Chaleur funds renewable heat production and heat networks, rather than a carbon diagnostic.
Once the action plan is established, Bpifrance's Prêt Vert can finance investments from €50,000.
Some sectors (agriculture, agri-food, textiles, construction) also have professional funds that co-fund decarbonisation studies. Ask the relevant federation or trade association: this option remains very underused.
4The research tax credit: for innovative methodologies
A final, very marginal option: a Bilan Carbone® applies an established method and is not itself an R&D activity for research tax credit purposes. Only separate work that meets the 5 R&D criteria (novelty, creativity, scientific or technical uncertainty, a systematic approach, reproducible results), such as developing an emission factor model for a poorly documented category, can qualify for the research tax credit.
The CIR therefore does not fund the Bilan Carbone® itself, and declaring a conventional study as R&D exposes the company to a tax reassessment. It mainly applies to large companies and a few mid-cap companies with a specific issue. For a conventional SME, it remains secondary, but is worth discussing beforehand with its accountant.
5A practical case: what an SME with 80 employees pays
Take an industrial SME with 80 employees, turnover of €18 million, based in Hauts-de-France and carrying out its first Bilan Carbone®.
3 scenarios for the same assessment, an €8,000 difference
Industrial SME, turnover €18 million, Hauts-de-France, first Bilan Carbone®: €14,000 excluding VAT at full price, Diag package of €10,000 excluding VAT.
Option 1, Diag Décarbon'Action alone: a €10,000 excl. VAT package, €4,000 covered by Bpifrance and ADEME, €6,000 excl. VAT payable by the company.
Option 2, if the company is not eligible for the Diag, Booster Transformation Rev3: total cost €14,000 excl. VAT, regional funding of 50% (a €10,000 ceiling), or €7,000, €7,000 excl. VAT payable by the company. It is less advantageous than the Diag, but the saving remains substantial.
Option 3, the full-price Bilan Carbone®: total cost €14,000 excl. VAT, entirely payable by the company.
The gap between the most advantageous option and the full price reaches €8,000 excl. VAT for the same engagement, with the same consultancy and deliverable, amply justifying the hour spent testing eligibility. To examine this starting point, our Diag Décarbon'Action support sets out the assessment, action plan and scheme-scoping stages with your company.
6The order in which to test funding options
Before accepting a full-price quote, test Diag Décarbon'Action first: it is the most generous, and is overlooked in 60% of the cases we review because eligibility has not been checked. Regional funding comes next, taking over when the Diag is not available (the Mission transition écologique funding search engine lists the schemes, and ADEME's regional office can clarify their conditions). Sector funds come last, mainly for industrial mid-cap companies, agri-food, textiles and construction. The 3 cannot always be combined, but the first is often enough to substantially reduce the bill.
Do not accept any full-price quote without testing at least the first 2 options. The gap between €6,000 and €14,000 excl. VAT for the same engagement is worth 48 hours of administrative work.
