Carbon footprint expert: what does the job consist of?
The profession of carbon balance expert consists of helping companies limit their greenhouse gas emissions in order to reduce the impact of their activity on the climate. You have to start by calculating the carbon emissions emitted by a company.
Matthias Savoye24, is an expert in carbon footprint for the company Sami, a consulting firm specializing in this field:
“My job is to help customers calculate their carbon footprint. Half of my time is devoted to meetings with companies to canvass them, convince them to launch carbon assessments, take stock of the progress of the work and ask them for additional information. The other half consists of analyzing the data collected and proposing solutions for decarbonizing their company or meetings on the progress of actions to reduce carbon emissions..
The main titles in job offers
Find the job offers currently offered for these various designations
- carbon footprint expert
- carbon coach
- carbon consultant
- carbon balance analyst
- carbon footprint consultant
- responsible for the carbon approach
- climate expert
- climate energy project manager
- sustainable development/energy/climate consultant
Carbon footprint expert: what specific skills to be hired?
The job requires a good knowledge of companies and their organization.
The job consists of mapping the flows to transform them into equivalent CO2 emissions. It is therefore necessary to be meticulous, patient and diplomatic to lay out all the complexity of a company, its networks, its departments, its expenses.
It is also imperative to have a synthetic mind to measure the carbon footprint and find solutions to lower it. Finally, it is imperative to know how to convince, win over teams and train them.
What qualifications do carbon footprint experts have and is it possible to retrain?
This profession is accessible to Bac +3/5. Mathias Savoye holds a Master 2 in sustainable development and organizational responsibility from Paris Dauphine University obtained in 2021. He was hired following a 6-month end-of-studies internship at Sami. Her supervisor is a graduate of a Master’s degree in finance from the IEP in Strasbourg and a course from the Carbon Training Institute in Paris. The engineers are also highly appreciated in this sector for their technical knowledge and their appetite for numerical data.
This new profession is also accessible to more seasoned professionals with the same courses.
Salaries: How much does a carbon balance expert earn?
They are directly linked to the initial diplomas. Typically (unfortunately), a young engineer will perceive more, without experience, than a young university student. That said, starting salaries are around 32,000 euros gross per year with the possibility of reaching, for the good elements, quite quickly 38,000 euros gross per year. The craft is under construction and opportunities for professional development are ahead. However, one can imagine that a specialization by sector will be requested with the possibility of integrating other consulting firms in sustainable development, there are a lot of them at the moment, or of moving to customers in CSR positions. Or to climb the social ladder by managing carbon coaches.
Recruitment: who recruits carbon footprint experts?
The industry is hiring. A young carbon coach estimates that it will take “a few weeks to find another job if he wanted to change employer”. “When I arrived in 2021, the company had 3 employees. Today we are 38”, illustrates Matthias Savoye, from Sami.
The function is recruiting and it is relatively easy to change companies. “I have already supported some 150 companies on their carbon footprintsays another consultant. This gives me a fairly broad view of all sectors of the economy, constraints, levers for improvement. These are skills that can attract recruiters. I am confident in my professional future: a company may be interested in a former carbon coach for its CSR department”.
Some potential employers:
Jacques Aflalo: “It is better to have done carbon assessments during your course”
Jacques Aflalo is responsible for the A2DM recruitment firm specializing in the drafting of carbon assessments and associate director of the carbon training institute offering short courses to acquire additional knowledge.
“The profession of carbon consultant is hiring. I will recruit, for example, 5 this year. But be careful, you don’t improvise yourself as a carbon consultant. You have to have done it for two to three years to become a serious consultant. Then, it is the initial training and experience that determine the salary. For example, I recruit engineers. In this profession, one can perceive, for a beginner, around 32,000 euros gross per year. Because client companies are not ready to put as much money into the carbon footprint as into other more profitable types of advice. So you have to be motivated by this work, passionate. With a problem for the integration of juniors. We don’t have time to train them. I therefore advise them to do these assessments during their course. The more they do, the more they will be appreciated”.
For further
Association of Professionals in Climate, Energy and Environment Consulting (https://apc-climat.fr).