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), a third in May 2022 (the OAT€i 0.10% 25 July 2038), followed by a fourth in 2024 (OAT 3.00% 25 June 2049) it is confirming France's leading role in achieving the ambitions set out in the Paris Climate Agreement of December 2015. In April 2026, Agence France Trésor announced the successful syndication of the fifth French sovereign green bond. The Green OAT 3.80% 25 June 2037 issuance amount at a yield of 3.899% reached €10 billion. A single framework document (lien vers le document-cadre) governs all these bonds and takes into account the specificities of the green indexed OATs.
After their inaugural issue, these securities are subject to reissue up to the limit of Eligible Green Expenditures each year.
Each year, the funds raised by Green OAT issues are used to finance a set of green projects under the State budget to mitigate climate change and anticipate the associated risks, preserve biodiversity and fight pollution. 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. Eligible green expenditure is also selected on the basis of its green budget rating, in line with the Greenfin label reference framework, created by the French Ministry for Ecological Transition to attest to the green credentials of investment funds.
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.