In accordance with its approach relating to both issuance and taps of the Green OAT, Agence France Trésor is releasing today an update of the second party opinion1 on the sustainability performance of the Green OAT 1.75% 25 June 2039. This updated opinion was provided by the independent agency Vigeo Eiris.
In its updated opinion, Vigeo Eiris notes: “France's overall sustainability performance, as a sovereign bond issuer, is advanced and stable”. The issuer achieves “advanced” (the highest level on Vigeo Eiris’ rating scale) for overall social and environmental performance, and also advanced for the Environmental Responsibility domain. In addition, Vigeo Eiris expresses “a reasonable level of assurance on the green credentials on the Green Expenditures identified by the interministerial working group” to be matched by Green OAT issuance in 2019.
Download the full update of Vigeo Eiris’ second party opinion dated 10 April 2019.
Additional background:
Vigeo Eiris, acting as independent third-party expert, was commissioned by Agence France Trésor to update its independent opinion on the sustainability credentials and management of the Green OAT. Download the review conducted as part of the inaugural issue and the 2018 update.
On 24 January 2017, Agence France Trésor launched the first sovereign green bond with a maturity of 22 years. The Green OAT 1.75% 25 June 2039 issuance amount was €7bn, making it at the time the largest and longest-dated green benchmark bond ever issued. By becoming the first country in the world to issue a sovereign green benchmark bond, France confirmed its role as a driving force for the implementation of the goals of the December 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
As is its practice for other OATs, AFT taps regularly its Green bond – whose outstanding amount currently stands at €16.5bn – to meet market demand and within the limit of the amount of eligible green expenditure, which comes to €8bn for 2019.
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1 This opinion is to be considered as the “Second Party Opinion” described by the Green Bond Principles 2017 of the International Capital Market Association