In accordance with the commitments made in 2017 when the first green OAT was launched, Agence France Trésor is publishing the fifth allocation and performance report on green OATs, covering the funds raised in 2021, i.e. EUR 15 billion. This report presents the 2021 expenditure matched to the green OAT issues, as well as the related performance indicators. It highlights the extent of the State's actions in favour of the environment and to fight climate change, in line with the Paris Agreement.
This new report notably analyses the link between the issuance of green bonds and the development of the Green Budget. Since 2020, it provides citizens with information on the environmental impact of the government's green spending.
With the emergence of the European green bond standard, the report also presents an analysis of eligible green expenditure in line with the European Taxonomy. It shows some challenges to produce and collect the data used to assess the eligibility to the Taxonomy. Further work on this topic will continue.
Cyril Rousseau, Chief Executive Officer of Agence France Trésor, said: "Investor interest for green bonds remains important, as illustrated by the growth of the green OAT program with an outstanding amount which now exceeds fifty billion euros. The allocation and performance reports published over the last five years reflect our commitment to a high-level standard of accountability and transparency of these products, in line with the best practices of sustainable finance”.
The total amount of green debt issued by France, through its three green OATs (the OAT 2039, the OAT 2044 and the OAT€i 2038) is currently €51.4 billion.
Download the full 2021 Green OAT Allocation and Performance Report by clicking here (in French only, English version available soon):
Find all the allocation and performance reports on the Green OATs page.
Background
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.
A single framework document 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: this has been the case for the OAT 2039 and 2044 on twelve and four occasions respectively since their launch.
At the same time, AFT is today publishing an update of the second opinion review on the green nature of eligible expenditure associated with green OAT issues for 2021.
Since 2017, France has been monitoring the environmental impacts of expenditure associated with green bond issues. This assessment, supervised by a board of independent, internationally renowned experts, results in specific reports. The first four reports, on the Energy Transition Tax Credit, the French Waterways Office, the French National Forestry Office and the investments for the future programme, were published in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively. The fifth report, published in July 2022, covers activities related to weather forecasting and land observation.
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