Objective CO2 is an emission-reduction programme in the transport sector. It is the only national-level scheme in France offering companies a structuring framework for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollutants in their transport activities. The programme is supported by Ademe and AFT, a French association for professional training in the transportation sector.

The Objective CO2 programme offers transport companies:

• Two complementary approaches: a progress charter and a valuation label for the best-performing companies
• Operational tools allowing companies to accurately assess, control and reduce GHG emissions and air pollutants
• Free and comprehensive support by regional project managers to raise awareness of environmental issues and help them establish their Objective CO2 Charter and meet the requirements to bear the accompanying Label* 

As part of their Objective CO2 Charter, the participating company is committed, for a period of three years, to reduce its GHG emissions, and therefore its fuel consumption. It concerns commercial and specialist transport operators, but also companies with their own vehicle fleets. Ademe provides them with an online tool to evaluate GHGs and air-pollutants from their transportation activity, and to establish a tailor-made action plan to curb them. The www.objectifco2.fr site includes a tool which, after entering operating data, measures and tracks GHGs and air-pollutants, as well as environmental performance indicators. It also makes it possible to capture and track, over time, implementation of the personalised action plan, and the quantified objectives on which the companies commit themselves.

If a freight company's environmental performance is sufficiently high, it may apply for the Objective CO2 Label, which can enhance its public image. The awarding of the Label is based on an independent audit which verifies the reliability of the data and the CO2 performance achieved. Performance measurement is based on the HBEFA European standard, which takes into account aggregated data from the French fleet. To obtain the Label, the company must have reached the targets across its whole fleet, calculated from the relative emissions of its vehicles (expressed in gCO2e/veh.km) and compared to reference emissions from the HBEFA database, which takes into account average speed and gradient. 

Already some 1 400 road transport companies have joined the Charter since December 2008, and 300 French freight companies have been awarded the Objectif CO2 Label as of May 2016. As a result, 1.6 million tonnes of GHGs were avoided by the end of 2016, thanks to the programme, which represents an average of nearly 400 000 tonnes a year.

* Note: To be labeled, the company is not obliged to have signed the CO2 Objective Charter.