Research organizations: how to build your climate strategy?

The ACT initiative was approached in 2022 by the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment (INRAE) to use the step-by-step ACT methodology developed by ADEME. This methodology helps companies define a decarbonization strategy and action plan that is relevant to the challenges of the low-carbon transition.

As the ACT Step-by-Step methodology was originally designed for companies (SMEs), the ACT Initiative, in collaboration with INRAE and I Care by Bearing Point, adapted this methodology to address the needs of public research institutions. This new methodology was then implemented by INRAE between 2023 and 2024.

ACT Step-by-Step for Public Research Organizations (PRO) aims to offer a method closely tailored to the sector’s needs and challenges to assist public research organizations in defining their decarbonization strategy and plan.

In an effort to provide a method for the entire higher education and research sector, the ACT Initiative will offer a comprehensive methodology, expanded to include education, in the first half of 2025.

As part of this, a public consultation will be launched in the first half of 2025 to gather feedback and recommendations from stakeholders on the preliminary version of the ACT Step-by-Step for Higher Education and Research (ESR). If you are linked to the ESR sector and wish to be informed about the opening of the public consultation, please let us know here.

The currently available methodology is a provisional version that may be subject to modifications in future developments.

Link to the PRO Method 

Link to the public consultation form

Link to the webinar replay dedicated and slides