France plans multi-billion green bonds issue

France is preparing to tap the green bonds market with a multi-billion issue in euro, the French Energy Minister Segolene Royal said.

The energy and the finance ministries have already formed an inter-ministerial working group to iron out the details for the several tranches which will start in 2017. The proceeds will be used to finance the third edition of the Investments for the Future Programme, more widely known under its French acronym PIA (Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir).

Comme promis, la France 1er État au monde à émettre obligations vertes : https://t.co/yElSiWos87 #greenbonds #climat pic.twitter.com/mnb86nXzAq

— Ségolène Royal (@RoyalSegolene) September 2, 2016

France will be the first country to issue sovereign green bonds as it chases after an ambitious target of 74 GW of renewables capacity by 2023.

It recently announced plans to hold tenders for 3 GW of ground-mounted solar power plants as well as 1.35 GW of rooftop installations over the next three years.

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