Presentation
In January 2017, AFT launched the first green sovereign bond for a benchmark amount (initially €7 billion), the OAT 2039. By launching a second green bond in March 2021 (the OAT€i 0.50% 25 June 2044), followed by a third in May 2022 (the OAT€i 0.10% 25 July 2038), it is confirming France's leading role in achieving the ambitions set out in the Paris Climate Agreement of December 2015. In January 2024, Agence France Trésor announced the successful syndication of the fourth French sovereign green bond with a maturity of 25 years. The Green OAT 3.00% 25 June 2049 issuance reached an all-time high of €8 billion.
After their inaugural issue, these securities can be tapped up to the limit of green eligible expenditures identified in each year's budget. This maximum amount is announced to the market at the beginning of the year.
Each year, the funds raised through Green OATs are used to finance a range of projects included in the State budget that have a positive impact on the six environmental objectives pursued by public policies: climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, transition to a circular economy, pollution prevention and control and protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems,
These objectives are framed by appropriate strategies and plans, with quantified and monitored objectives.
Each year, the various ministries identify the expenditures in their budgets that match these objectives. These expenditures are submitted to the Green OAT Evaluation Council for its opinion, and then they are submitted for validation by an interministerial steering committee working under the aegis of the Prime Minister.
For accounting purposes, raised funds are treated in the same way as funds from a conventional OAT and managed in compliance with the general budget rule. The allocation and performance reports, drawn up every year on th basis of the Budget Review Bill, are used to verify the nominal equivalence between this source of funds and the uses matched to it. In August 2024, the seventh allocation and performance reports was published, presenting the expenditures matching the 2023 green debt issues.
In addition, the Evaluation Council is monitoring work to determine the environmental impact of expenditure allocated to funds raised by green OATs. These evaluation exercises contribute to the proper management of public policies and, as such, represent one of the contributions of green OATs.