Presentation
In June 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.
September 2023 - Update of the second party opinion on the French Republic's Green OAT by Moody's ESG Solutions (Elegible Green Expenditures 2022 ex post)
August 2022 - Update of the second party opinion on the French Republic's Green OAT by Moody's ESG Solutions (Elegible Green Expenditures 2021 ex post)
May 2022 - Update of the second party opinion on the French Republic's Green OAT by Moody's ESG Solutions(Elegible Green Expenditures 2022 ex ante)
July 2021 - Update of the second party opinion on the French Republic's Green OAT by the independant agency V.E (Elegible Green Expenditures 2021 ex ante)
March 2021 - Update of the second party opinion on the sustainability of the French Republic’s Green OAT (Elegible Green Expenditures 2020 ex post)
January 2017 - Second party opinion on the sustainability of the French Republic’s Green OAT
The Green OATs Evaluation Council
The Green OATs Evaluation Council is chaired by Manuel Pulgar-Vidal and its members are eight independent experts:
- Mats Andersson, Vice-Chairman of the Global Challenges Foundation, Chairman of PDC and former CEO of AP4, Sweden’s fourth national pension fund;
- Nathalie Girouard, Head of the Environmental Performance and Information Division of the Environment Directorate at the OECD;
- Mike Holland, independant consultant ;
- Karin Kemper, Senior Director for the Environment and Natural Resources Global Practice at the World Bank;
- Rana Roy, independant consultant ;
- Thomas Sterner, Professor of Environmental Economics at the University of Gothenburg;
Two observers also take part in the Council:
- Sean Kidney, co-founder and CEO of the Climate Bond Initiative;
- Nicolas Pfaff, Senior Director and Secretary to the Green Bond Principles, ICMA (International Capital Market Association).
The Green OATs Evaluation Council defines the specifications and schedule for evaluation reports on the environmental impact of Green Eligible Expenditures financed by France’s green sovereign bond. The Council also gives its opinion on the quality of the evaluation reports and the impact and relevance of the findings. All of its work is published on the Agence France Trésor website. The Secretariat of the Green OATs Evaluation Council is provided jointly by the General Commission for Sustainable Development and the Directorate General of the Treasury.
Allocation and performance report
Green OAT allocation and performance report for 2023
Green OAT allocation and performance report for 2022
Green OAT allocation and performance report for 2021
Green OAT allocation and performance report for 2020
Green OAT allocation and performance report for 2019
Green OAT allocation and performance report for 2018
Green OAT allocation and performance report for 2017
Council evaluation reports
23 December 2024 : Download the Council’s opinion on the impact assessment report on combined transports subsidies
23 December 2024 : Download the full impact assessment report on combined transports subsidies
23 December 2024 : Download the terms of reference for the impact assessment report on combined transports subsidies
21 December 2023 : Download the Council’s opinion on the impact assessment report on renewable energy subsidies
21 December 2023 : Download the full impact assessment report on renewable energy subsidies
21 December 2023 : Download the terms of reference for the impact assessment report on renewable energy subsidies
26 November 2021: Download the Council’s opinion on the Impact Assessment Report on the innovation strategy of the Investments for the Future Programme (PIA)
26 November 2021: Download the full Impact Assessment Report on the innovation strategy of the Investments for the Future Programme (PIA)
26 November 2021: Download an overview of the Impact Assessment Report on the innovation strategy of the Investments for the Future Programme (PIA)
26 November 2021: Download the terms of reference for the Impact Assessment Report on the innovation strategy of the Investments for the Future Programme (PIA)
27 November 2020: Download the Council’s opinion on the Impact Assessment Report on the Subsidy to the French forest national office
27 November 2020: Download the full Impact Assessment Report on the Subsidy to the French forest national office
27 November 2020: Download an overview of the Impact Assessment Report on the Subsidy to the French forest national office
27 November 2020: Download the terms of reference for the Impact Assessment Report on the Subsidy to the French forest national office
1/ For categories already present in the 2017 framework (mapping presented in Annex 2 of the framework document):
The allocation report for bonds issued in 2024 (published mid-2025) will present the allocation of funds using the new classification, along with a mapping to the green sectors of the previous framework to facilitate the transition.
The allocation report for bonds issued in 2025 (published mid-2026) will present the allocation exclusively using the new classification.
2/ For newly included expenditures in the framework:
The allocation of new expenditures that are not mapped to the 2017 framework (e.g. nuclear sector) will only be made to newly issued Green OATs as of 1st January 2026.
The four existing green OATs as of 2025 (as well as future taps of these four OATs) will never finance expenditures related to nuclear energy.
To date, the various Delegated Acts define 101 economic activities (or sub-sectors), referred to as "eligible", across 17 sectors.
Within the scope of applying the EU Taxonomy, two key steps are distinguished:
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Determining which economic activities (or sub-sectors) fall under the scope of the Taxonomy (i.e., are “eligible”),
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Then assessing which expenditures are actually “aligned” with the Taxonomy, meaning they meet the following three cumulative conditions:
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Make a substantial contribution to at least one of the six environmental objectives (technical screening criteria);
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Do no significant harm to the five other environmental objectives (DNSH);
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Comply with minimum social safeguards.
Regarding eligibility, the revised framework highlights which green expenditures are covered by the EU Taxonomy (indicated in the final column of the corresponding table).
Other public expenditures—such as those related to public operators, project calls, official development assistance, or activities not yet covered by the Delegated Acts (e.g., certain R&D, agriculture, and ICT)—remain eligible under the framework.
Regarding alignment to the EU Taxonomy, AFT performs an analysis of the technical criteria outlined in the Delegated Acts for relevant eligible expenditures. The results are disclosed in the Allocation and Performance Report and updated annually.
Additionally, AFT produces a detailed mapping of environmental and social laws and regulations applicable in France, along with internal procedures in place to meet DNSH and MSS requirements under the EU Taxonomy Regulation. The results of this mapping are published in a dedicated document on the AFT website.
1/ Reorganisation of the 2017 framework’s green sectors:
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Deletion of the “Transversal” category, now split into “Research, Innovation and Sustainable Industry” and “Official Development Assistance”;
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Removal of the “Adaptation” category, now distributed across “Sustainable Land Use and Development”, “ODA”, and “Research and Innovation”;
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Elimination of the “Pollution and Eco-efficiency” category, now split between: “Sustainable Land Use and Development” (air quality), “Sustainable Use and Protection of Natural Resources” (soil/water pollution and waste reduction).
2/ Inclusion of new expenditures eligible under the EU Taxonomy:
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Existing nuclear-related expenditures have been included: In the “Energy Efficiency and Decarbonised Energy” sector for research, safety, and innovation. In “Sustainable Use and Protection of Natural Resources” for waste management.
3/ Explicit reference to international and EU regulations:
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Sustainable Development Goals;
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Eligibility criteria aligned with sub-sectors defined in the EU Taxonomy Regulation.
Nuclear energy is crucial to achieve France's ‘Net Zero’ ambition.
Nuclear-related expenditures (safety, R&D, production) may only be allocated to funds raised through Green OATs whose inaugural issuance occurred as of 2026.
Therefore, no tap of one of the following four existing green OATs will ever finance expenditure linked to nuclear energy:
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OAT 1.75% 25 June 2039
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OAT 0.50% 25 June 2044
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OAT€i 0.10% 25 July 2038
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OAT 3.00% 25 June 2049
Nuclear-related expenditures will comply with the technical screening criteria in Annex I of the EU Climate Complementary Delegated Act concerning the following activities:
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4.26: Safe construction and operation of new nuclear plants for electricity or heat generation, including hydrogen production, using best available technologies;
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4.27: Electricity production from nuclear energy in existing installations (including safety);
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4.28: Funding for research activities in renewable and nuclear low-carbon energy.
The eligibility of green expenditures announced for year N is based on the Green Budget rating annexed to the Budget Bill for year N. This rating is used for allocation reporting.
The Green Budget is prepared each year by an interministerial working group led by the Budget Directorate, and includes the ministries for Ecological Transition and for Economy and Finance.
The Green Budget methodology evaluates government expenditures with ratings: Favorable, Unfavorable, Neutral, or Mixed, based on their positive or negative contribution to each of the six environmental objectives (scored -1 to 3). A negative score on any of the six objectives leads to a Mixed or Unfavorable rating. All the ratings and the justifications for the ratings for each expenditure item are published each year on the Budget Directorate website.
Limiting eligibility to Favorably-rated expenditures ensures that green expenditures contribute positively to at least one of the six objectives without harming others or creating adverse incentives.
Ratings are reviewed annually by the above-mentionned taskforce. If a rating is downgraded, the expenditure becomes ineligible, and funds are reallocated to expenditures meeting the framework's selection criteria.
The framework specifies: "Green eligible expenditures represent a subset of expenditures rated Favorable in the Green Budget annexed to the Budget Law for the year of execution."
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If an expenditure is rated Favorable in year N, it becomes eligible for allocation of funds raised in year N. Retroactively, expenditures made in N-1 become eligible up to 50% of their value.
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If a Favorable rating in year N-1 is downgraded to Neutral, Mixed, or Unfavorable in year N, the expenditure becomes ineligible for N allocations. The N-1 carryover also becomes ineligible.
France adopts a two-level approach to measure impact:
1/ Performance indicators from the State general budget:
Since the 2001 Organic Law on Budget Acts, State expenditures are organised into missions, programmes, and actions, each with defined objectives and annual performance indicators. For green expenditures, these indicators assess their environmental impact
When available, ICMA impact indicators are preferred.
2/ Ex-post impact evaluation reports:
Since 2017, France has conducted in-depth assessments of the environmental impact of green expenditures financed by Green OATs.
These evaluations are carried out by the Green Evaluation Council, covering one or more specific budget lines. Using counterfactual scenarios, they assess environmental outcomes aligned with stated objectives. This contributes directly to the performance evaluation of public spending.
So far, eight reports have been published, the latest of which, released in December 2024, focuses on public support for combined transport.