The environmental indicators of the Economic, Social and Environmental Database finally specified

 

BDESE environmental indicators

The publication of decree n°2022-678 of April 26, 2022 in the official journal of April 27, 2022, finally specifies the environmental data that the BDESE must include.

The clarification had been expected since the promulgation, on August 22, 2021, of the law on the fight against climate change and strengthening resilience to its effects (law no. 2021-1104), known as the “Climate and Resilience” law, which enriched the Economic and Social Database (BDES) with an “E” to rename it BDESE (Economic, social and environmental database), thus giving staff representatives new powers in terms of environmental protection (Article L. 2312-8, I of the Labor Code).

Decree No. 2022-678 of April 26, 2022, published in the Official Journal of April 27, 2022, specifies the environmental data that the BDESE must include.

What does this imply ?

On the one hand, this means that the employer must now include in the BDESE information relating to the environmental consequences linked to the activity of the company.

On the other hand, the social and economic committee (CSE) must be informed and consulted from time to time on the environmental consequences of the measures concerning the organization, management and general operation of the company, and issue an opinion.

In addition, in companies with at least fifty employees, the 5-day economic training course enjoyed by full members of the CSE elected for the first time, may now also cover the environmental consequences of the company's activity. 'business.

Finally, the economic, social and union training open to employees called upon to perform union duties is renamed “economic, social, environmental and union training”.

Priority given to collective bargaining

(Articles L. 2312-19, R.2312-19 and R.2312-20 of the Labor Code)

It should be specified that just like the content of the BDES before, the environmental indicators are defined as a priority by company agreement, which sets the content, frequency and methods of the recurring consultations of the CSE.

In the absence of an agreement, the environmental indicators provided for by the decree are intended to apply.

What are the indicators concerned ? (Articles R.2312-8 and R.2312-9 of the Labor Code)

In the absence of an agreement, the environmental indicators that must be indicated in the BDESE are mentioned in articles R.2312-8 and R.2312-9 of the Labor Code and vary according to the company's workforce.

 

Companies with less than 300 employees

General environmental policy	Organization of the company to take into account the environmental issues and, where applicable, the evaluation or certification procedures in terms of environment;
Circular economy	Prevention and management of waste production: assessment of the quantity of defined hazardous waste in article R. 541-8 of the environment code and subject to an issue of the slip mentioned in article R. 541-45 of the same code; Sustainable use of resources: water consumption and energy consumption;
Climate change	Identification of direct gas emission stations at greenhouse effect produced by stationary sources and mobiles necessary for the activities of the company (commonly referred to as “scope 1 emissions”) and, when the company has this information, assessment of the volume of these greenhouse gas emissions greenhouse ; Balance of greenhouse gas emissions forecast by article L. 229-25 of the environment code or assessment simplified provided for by article 244 of the law n° 2020-1721 of December 29, 2020 of finances for 2021 for companies required to establish these different balance sheets.

 

Companies with at least 300 employees

• Companies subject to the non-financial performance declaration
  
  

General environmental policy	Environmental information presented in application of 2° of A of II of article R. 225-105 of trade code ;
Circular economy	Prevention and management of waste production: assessment of the quantity of defined hazardous waste in article R. 541-8 of the environment code and subject to an issue of the slip mentioned in article R. 541-45 of the same code;
Climate change	Balance of greenhouse gas emissions forecast by article L. 229-25 of the environment code or assessment simplified provided for by article 244 of the law n° 2020-1721 of December 29, 2020 of finances for 2021 for companies required to establish these different balance sheets;

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• Companies not subject to the extra-financial performance declaration
  
  

General environmental policy	Organization of the company to take into account the environmental issues and, where applicable, the evaluation or certification procedures in terms of environment;
Circular economy	Prevention and management of waste production: assessment of the quantity of defined hazardous waste in article R. 541-8 of the environment code and subject to an issue of the slip mentioned in article R. 541-45 of the same code; Sustainable use of resources: water consumption and energy consumption;
Climate change	Identification of direct gas emission stations at greenhouse effect produced by stationary sources and mobiles necessary for the activities of the company (commonly referred to as “scope 1 emissions”) and, when the company has this information, assessment of the volume of these greenhouse gas emissions greenhouse ; Balance of greenhouse gas emissions forecast by article L. 229-25 of the environment code or the simplified balance sheet provided for by article 244 of law no. 2020-1721 of December 29, 2020 of finances for 2021 for companies required to draw up these balance sheets.

 

What is the penalty in the absence of environmental information ?

Since the protection of the environment is now an integral part of the new powers of the CSE, the absence of environmental indicators in the BDESE is likely to constitute an obstacle to the functioning of the institution.

Thus, an employer who refrains from updating the BDESE to add environmental data is liable to a fine of €7 pursuant to Article L. 500-2317 of the Labor Code.

The absence of BDESE or the lack of data it contains could prevent the CSE from preparing and forming an opinion, thus interfering with or slowing down the consultative process.

In addition, staff representatives could apply to the judge in chambers to order the company to fulfill its obligations in this area.

Does the employer have a deadline to update the BDESE ?

Following the publication of the decree, a final question still arises for companies? How long do they have to update?

As the decree is applicable the day after the day of publication in the official journal, the update must be done as soon as possible.

In particular, if the employer initiates one of the mandatory recurring consultations, he must inform and consult elected officials on the environmental consequences of the company's activities.