Joint Focus on Standards and Categorisation for Green Investments
1430 CET: 07/12/2015: Paris: The French Ministère de l'Écologie, du Développement durable et de l’Énergie (MEDDE) has announced it will join the Climate Bonds Initiative Partnership Programme, effective immediately.
The MEDDE will focus its partnership activities with the Climate Bonds Initiative on green categorisation, labels and market guidance for green investment funds.
The Climate Bonds Initiative is an investor-focused not-for-profit, promoting large-scale investment in the low-carbon economy. It is the only organization in the world working exclusively to mobilise the USD 100 trillion bond market for climate change solutions.
In line with its 2016 global mission to lead the COP21 climate negotiations to a successful outcome, the French Government has been working on market labels for green investment funds. The MEDDE decision to partner with Climate Bonds Initiative is another step in French leadership to support the creation of robust standards around green investments and climate finance that assist the transition to a low carbon economy.
Ségolène Royal, the French Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, announced the development of a public quality label for green investment funds in September. The label ‘Transition énergétique et écologique pour le climat’ is expected to provide its first scorings in 1Q2016.
The label seeks to support implementation of French regulations that demand investors to report on how they integrate environmental issues into their core investment processes, report on the greenhouse gas footprint of the assets financed, and detail how they support the transition to a low carbon economy.
MEDDE’s Commissioner General for Sustainable Development Laurence Monnoyer-Smith:
“The Ministry acknowledges Climate Bonds Initiative existing thought-leadership on defining green. Using Climate Bonds work on the categorisation of green sectors and the Climate Bonds Standards and Certification Scheme, we were able to cross-check our draft definitions against a robust body of work backed by up-to-date scientific and technological insight.”
“We are pleased to announce today that we will support Climate Bonds Initiative.”
Climate Bonds Initiative CEO Sean Kidney:
“Welcoming the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy as a Partner, with Paris hosting the climate negotiations, is an international signal of tremendous support to our work. It demonstrates that France is serious about keeping momentum for the low carbon transition going after COP. The French government understands the vital role that debt capital markets finance has to play in this transition. We're looking forward to broadening our work with this leading European government."
Notes:
About MEDDE: The allocation decree for the Ministère de l'Écologie, du Développement durable et de l’Énergie (MEDDE) outlined the scope of the tasks of this department and the ministerial mission. The Decree, first published April 18th, 2014 is available here.
Partners Programme: NGOs, banks, institutional investors and governments are eligible to join as Climate Bond Partners to help rapidly grow a market of green and climate bonds.
Partners work with Climate Bonds across a range of activities. They develop initiatives to grow investment in climate solutions, participate in different market development committees and help define policy, certification, standards and agendas for sector, country & sub-national programs.
A list of Partners is available here.
For more information, please contact:
Andrew Whiley, Communications Manager, Climate Bonds Initiative [+44 (0) 7506 270 943]
Robin Edme, Senior Advisor – Responsible Finance, MEDDE [+33 (0) 618 575 153]
