Nathalie Guerrin is the founder and president of Miliadata, a company that specializes in helping businesses navigate the ecological transition. She completed the “Measuring Your Organization’s Carbon Footprint” course at Académie Carbone 4, a program she chose for its methodological rigor and practical focus. The course helped her gain new skills… and greater autonomy. Here’s her story.

Measuring Your Organization's Carbon Footprint

Could you tell us a little about your professional background?

I founded my company in 2023 after a long career at a large firm specializing in information technology consulting and systems integration.

When I started my business, I was already very concerned about environmental issues, but I felt the need to build my skills in order to structure my business. So I took several additional training courses: a course at Mines Paris that focused extensively on “data,” the ACT Pas à Pas—“Accelerate Climate Transition”—training offered by ADEME, as well as the Measuring Your Organization's Carbon Footprint from the Carbone 4 Academy.

On this key topic, I really wanted to delve deeper into the methodology for measuring carbon footprints, and the Academy’s training program struck me as one of the most practical and actionable.

What were your professional challenges at that time?

ESG challenges are calling on leaders to transform their organizations to make them more resilient. This means decisions must be made. However, poor data quality hinders sound decision-making, which impacts not only the company’s resilience but also the morale of its employees. This issue is extremely common.

There is also the challenge of guiding organizations step by step. ESG challenges are numerous and complex: it is important to help organizations adopt the new paradigms they must embrace, strengthen risk management, and return to a long-term perspective in order to fully address these challenges and plan their transformation. This is truly the key to ensuring the long-term sustainability of an organization.

There was, therefore, a strong alignment between my desire to create my own organization to address these challenges and the accelerating pace of regulatory change, particularly with the introduction of the first version of the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive).

Why did you decide to take a course on carbon footprint measurement?

For me, it’s essential to help companies become more attuned to environmental issues, but that starts with a concrete understanding of where they stand. And that begins, above all, with measuring their carbon footprint. It is therefore essential to conduct a thorough systemic analysis, know how to collect the right data, interpret it, and support organizations throughout their reporting processes.

This training gave me a clear understanding of the carbon footprint across an entire value chain, which is very helpful as I move forward: defining a strategy, establishing key metrics, and tracking progress over time.

How did you find out about our training program, and what factors convinced you to enroll?

I had already been following Jean-Marc Jancovici for some time, and at the same time, I spoke with someone in my network—who specializes in sustainable finance—who advised me to learn more about carbon footprint measurement.

That’s when I had the opportunity to speak with Juliette Decq [Editor’s note: Director of the Académie Carbone 4]. I was immediately won over by the Academy’s approach, which is naturally inspired by Jean-Marc Jancovici’s vision: a structured, science-based educational approach featuring comprehensive and rigorous information.

What aspects of the training made the biggest impression on you?

First of all, I found that the training program fit very well into a work schedule, which makes it accessible to as many people as possible.

I really enjoyed the virtual classes: you can tell that the instructors have a thorough grasp of their subject matter. The funnel-style teaching method is particularly effective—we start with the “big picture” and an analysis of physical phenomena, presented by Jean-Marc Jancovici in very well-structured e-learning videos: the “why” and the cause-and-effect relationships are established, and the pace allows you to absorb the material and take notes. Then, we gradually delve into the details, right down to the inner workings of carbon footprint measurement.

I also liked the diversity of the instructors in the videos; it almost feels like you’re sitting in a real-life physics class. On top of that, the platform is user-friendly, intuitive, and really high-quality.

What skills or knowledge did you gain from the training?

By the end of the training, I was fully capable of conducting a carbon footprint assessment on my own. The various methodologies were clear; I knew what data to look for, which emission factors to use, as well as what precautions to take and what the limitations of the exercise were.

The training provided me with a structured approach: defining the scope, choosing an appropriate calculation method, and knowing how to extrapolate results when data is missing.

I also found the first module very useful. It covers the basics of the carbon footprint: the causes of climate change, the main greenhouse gases, the concept of carbon neutrality, and so on. We often tend to focus on taking action, but a solid foundation of knowledge is essential for understanding the issues and asking the company the right questions in a coherent way.

Have you seen any tangible results?

I’ve clearly honed my knowledge in the area of climate, but above all, I’ve gained a broader perspective and developed a critical mindset on this topic, which has allowed me to challenge my clients and feel more comfortable discussing these issues. My capacity for systemic analysis has been enriched by more detailed and rigorous knowledge regarding climate issues.

Any advice for those who are still hesitant to take the plunge?

Complying with and fulfilling the requirements of a regulation is one thing. Understanding the underlying principles and everything that this entails for a company is quite another. That’s why training—and this course in particular—is so important! The Carbon Footprint training course is a must for anyone who feels they need to understand the subject. It is therefore relevant to a wide audience, from corporate executives to those in more operational roles, and not just within the CSR sphere.

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