As part of its monitoring of expenditure backed by Green OATs, Agence France Trésor is publishing a new impact assessment report today on the ex post environmental impact of public spending implemented under the 'Landscapes, Water and Biodiversity' budgetary programme.
The 'Landscapes, Water and Biodiversity' programme was set up to support public policies that protect landscapes and natural environments, improve and manage water quality, and conserve biodiversity in mainland France and its overseas territories. Two of the programme's initiatives are eligible for Green OAT financing, which covers operating, intervention and investment expenditure. A total of €1,959 billion was allocated to these actions over the 2017–2024 period.
This assessment, conducted under the supervision of the Green OAT Evaluation Council, summarises the observed environmental impacts of the measures financed under the programme by combining qualitative and quantitative analyses.
The evaluation shows that these expenditures significantly contribute to the protection of biodiversity, with co-benefits on strengthening resilience to climate change and supporting vital ecosystem services such as water purification and carbon sequestration. It also emphasises that the effectiveness of public policies on biodiversity and water management would be significantly reduced in the absence of this programme. The analysed expenditure enhances the effectiveness of interventions by improving scientific knowledge, strengthening coordination and optimising implementation.
Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Head of Climate and Energy at WWF International and Chairman of the Green OAT Evaluation Council, welcomed the findings of this new analysis: “This ninth report marks a major milestone in the assessment of public expenditure dedicated to biodiversity. It rigorously demonstrates that the actions financed by green sovereign bonds have had a tangible positive effect on natural ecosystems, while also providing valuable methodological insights for future impact assessments”.
Antoine Deruennes, Chief Executive Officer of Agence France Trésor, added, “This report strengthens confidence in the sovereign green bond market through the transparency it provides and the quality of its analysis. It highlights the importance of evaluating green expenditure and represents a significant step forward in integrating biodiversity into the green finance framework.”
Background
In June 2017, AFT launched the first green sovereign bond for a benchmark amount (initially €7 billion), the OAT 2039. This issuance confirmed France's leading role in achieving the ambitions set out in the Paris Climate Agreement of December 2015. Since 2017, AFT pursue this engagement 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 January 2024 (the OAT 3.00% 25 June 2049).
After their inaugural issue, these securities are subject to reissue up to the limit of Eligible Green Expenditures each year: this has been the case for the OAT 2039 on fifteen occasions, eight occasions for the OAT 2044, nine occasions for the OAT€i 2038, and four for the OAT 2049 since their launch.
A single framework document governs all these bonds and takes into account the specificities of the green indexed OATs. Agence France Trésor published on 16 May 2025 an update of the Green OAT Framework . The updated framework aims to align with best market practices, developments in European regulation, as well as with the analytical methodologies introduced with the creation of the Green Budget in 2020.
When the first Green OAT was initially issued, the French government made a commitment to report on the environmental impact of this expenditure, which helps to set high standards within this market. The process for conducting these impact assessments is supervised by the Green OATs Evaluation Council.
Chaired by Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, former Minister of the Environment of Peru, President of COP20 and the Global Leader of Climate & Energy at WWF, the Green OATs Evaluation Council is currently composed of six other independent experts:
Mats Andersson, Vice-Chair of the Global Challenges Foundation, Chair of the Portfolio Decarbonization Coalition and former CEO of AP4, Sweden’s fourth national pension fund
Nathalie Girouard, Head of Division for Environmental Performance and Information in the OECD Environment Directorate
Mike Holland, independent consultant
Karin Kemper, former Global Director for Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy at the World Bank
Rana Roy, independent consultant
Thomas Sterner, professor of environmental economics at the University of Gothenburg
In addition to this list, there are two observers:
Sean Kidney, co-founder and CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative
Nicholas Pfaff, Senior Director of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy at the International Capital Market Association
The Green OATs Evaluation Council defines the terms of reference and the programming of the environmental impact assessment reports for eligible green expenditure funded by the French Green OATs. It also gives its opinion on the quality of the impact assessment reports and the relevance of the results.
All of these documents are published on the AFT website. The Secretariat of the Evaluation Council is provided jointly by the CGDD and the Directorate General of the Treasury.
Documents
Contact :
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