A few days ahead of the adoption of the Green Deal project by the European Council, Amundi and the European Investment Bank (EIB) are pleased to announce the fundraising for the first vintage of the Green Continuum programme has successfully reached EUR 253 million as of 30 of November 2019. The programme was launched in July earlier this year.
Representing a new frontier of sustainable finance in Europe, the programme aims to contribute to the deployment of new financing required to meet the commitments made under the Paris Agreement on climate change. Amundi and the EIB launched the partnership to finance European environmental objectives, foster the development of new market instruments, and facilitate access to market financing for smaller companies and green projects, while offering higher yields to investors.
Through this programme, Amundi and the EIB hope to enhance the green debt market beyond existing green bonds, to support small-scale green projects and financing for green SMEs. The initial commitment from the EIB is EUR 60m.
The Green Credit Continuum programme has proven to be of great interest to investors from both the public and private sectors. The programme has attracted initial commitments from pension funds, insurance companies, banking institutions, and public investment institutions based in three countries (Denmark, France and Luxembourg).
This first of the three planned vintages of the programme gathers institutional investors committed to the development of green capital markets to support European energy transition. These include the French Caisse des Dépôts, the Caisse Centrale de Réassurance, the social welfare group Agrica and the Danish pension fund Lærernes.
Crédit Agricole group is also a core investor in the project, through 10 of its French regional banks*.
This first vintage will invest in these nascent green segments, opening up the market. Subsequent vintages will give additional investors a new opportunity to join this innovative programme. The investment period for the first vintage will start in December, and Amundi is aiming to raise a second vintage as soon as the initial funds raised have been successfully deployed and invested. The ultimate ambition is to deploy EUR 1 billion through this programme.
In order to maximize the impact of the programme and foster green credit market expansion, Amundi is creating a Green Transaction Network with leading financial institutions and issuers to source deals and projects. In parallel, a scientific committee of green finance experts is being established to define and promote environmental guidelines for the target markets in line with international best practice and legislation derived from the European Commission action plan.
* Including: CRCA Alpes Provence, CRCA Aquitaine, CRCA Charente Maritime Deux-Sèvres, CRCA Morbihan, CRCA Ille-et-Vilaine, CRCA Centre Ouest, CRCA Martinique-Guyane, CRCA Touraine Poitou, CRCA Loire Haute Loire, CRCA Provence Côte d’Azur
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