Multiple entities are spearheading this project involving a wide range of economic actors from France and across Europe

The Observatory's Steering Committee

Comprised of:

  • “L’Institut de la Finance Durable” / The “Paris Sustainable Finance Institute”, branch of Paris EUROPLACE, aims to coordinate and accelerate the action of the Paris financial center to achieve the energy and environmental transition. The IFD was created in October 2022 and takes over from Finance For Tomorrow. It gathers the 200+ members of Paris EUROPLACE, financial players, corporates, audit and consulting firms, data providers, think-tanks, fintechs but also public authorities and supervisors, to federate and amplify the actions undertaken by the institutions of the Paris financial center in terms of green and sustainable finance and to accompany the transformation of the economy. The IFD is chaired by Yves Perrier.
  • The Fédération bancaire française (FBF or French Banking Federation), created in 2001, represents the 340 French and foreign banks operating in France. The federation, which also maintains an office in Brussels, is present throughout France via a network of 103 regional and departmental committees. The FBF intervenes on all banking and financial regulatory issues at the French, European and international levels, as well as on all matters relating to banks' contributions to the economy and society. Banks actively finance the economy and thus play a key role in growth and employment. With 360,000 employees, the French banking sector is also a dynamic player in the labour market.
  • The France Assureurs brings together more than 260 insurance and reinsurance companies representing 99% of the country's insurance market. Its mission is to lobby public authorities and various partners on behalf of the industry. France Assureurs also provides a forum for consideration and analysis of challenges facing the profession. The federation strives to centralise statistical data and ensures that news is disseminated to partners and media outlets. It also organises prevention and training events.
  • The Association Française de la Gestion financière (AFG or French Asset Management Association) represents and defends the interests of third-party management professionals. Founded in 1961, it brings together the various players of the asset management industry, whether mandated individual asset managers or collective asset managers via Undertakings for Collective Investment (UCIs). Its 370 members are entrepreneurs, portfolio management companies, or subsidiaries of banking or insurance groups, both French and international. French asset management amounts to more than €4 trillion under management, fully a quarter of continental Europe's asset management market.
  • France Invest has, since 1984, brought together most of the private equity companies active in France. Its members provide long-term support for the transformation of unlisted companies by supplying the resources these businesses need to foster a just transition. Investment firms assist in the creation of start-ups (innovation capital), participate in the growth of many SMEs and regional ETIs (development capital) and contribute to the generational transfer of companies (transfer capital). For 10 years, France Invest has galvanised and mobilised its community to develop a shared philosophy and an innovative approach to promoting sustainable and responsible growth.

  • Paris Europlace is the organisation responsible for developing and promoting, at the international level, both the Paris Financial Centre and the French financial industry in general. It brings together a full range of stakeholders, from companies, investors, banking and financial intermediaries, to the legal and accounting professions, consulting firms and market authorities, representing more than 400 members all told. The association is chaired by Augustin de Romanet, Chairman and CEO of Aéroports de Paris.

  • The Association française des Sociétés Financières (ASF or French Association of Financial Companies) brings together specialist financial institutions. These are some 270 companies engaged in a wide range of activities (equipment and property leasing, factoring, guarantors to companies or individuals, investment service providers, etc.). As regards consumer credit (revolving credit, allocated loans, personal loans, lease-to-own and more), ASF members represent nearly 50% of all outstanding loans held by credit institutions (and a majority of revolving loan transactions).

And also, in an advisory capacity:

  • ADEME is a public institution overseen by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. ADEME contributes to the struggle against global warming and resource degradation. The organisation mobilises citizens, economic players and territories, providing the means to make progress towards a resource-efficient, low-carbon society that is more equitable and fair.
  • PwC France and Maghreb works pro bono with the Sustainable Finance Observatory. Founded in 1994, its Sustainable Development department helps investors and companies of all sizes to anticipate, integrate into their strategies and implement the most innovative approaches in the field of sustainable development in a pragmatic and effective manner. More than 100 dedicated consultants, with scientific, economic and legal backgrounds, lead a Sustainability community of 300 sector and technical specialists working on CSR issues in France (finance, risk, transformation, supply chain, blockchain, data intelligence, economic modelling, etc.). At the global level, the Sustainability strategic platform brings together nearly 2,000 people in 70 countries, with strategy consulting, operations management, transactions and external verification as its main areas of action.

What Does the Observatory's Steering Committee Do?

  • The Observatory's Steering Committee is tasked with ensuring that the project is properly managed, by taking care that transparency is observed and by sharing the Observatory's work and findings. It establishes indicators for assessing the actions and achievements of financial-sector actors in terms of sustainable finance.
  • The Steering Committee exchanges on work in progress with the Scientific Committee, which provides recommendations. These are then examined and incorporated where they are deemed relevant and feasible.
  • As the platform's architect, the Steering Committee may propose amendments to the orientation or goals of the project for submission to the ClimAct Finance Steering Committee, whose role is to guarantee that the overall project strategy remains in line with the framework document established with the European Union as part of the LIFE grant.
  • The Observatory's Steering Committee also coordinates regularly with the AMF and ACPR.
  • The professional bodies that sit on the Committee work with their respective members to define and validate the indicators to be reported and ensure the annual collection of sector data.
  • The Committee meets at least once a month as required and reports regularly to Institut de la Finance Durable on the progress of the Observatory's work.

The Finance ClimAct Steering Committee

Consisting of:

  • ADEME
  • Commissariat Général au Développement Durable (CGDD, Commissioner-General for Sustainable Development)
  • Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF, French Financial Market Authority)
  • Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR, French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority)
  • Institute for Climate Economics (I4CE)
  • 2° Investing Initiative
  • Institut de la Finance Durable
  • RMI

Chaired by ADEME, which oversees the project, the Committee's role is ensure compliance of the project's strategic positioning, deadlines and financial reporting at the European Commission level.

Insitut de la Finance Durable reports on the Observatory's progress to the Steering Committee and acts as a link between the two Committees.

Within the framework of the European LIFE programme, the grant subsidising work is conditional on Institut de la Finance Durable meeting its commitments on means deployed and deliverables. These are verified at a first level by members of the Committees, and at a second level by the Executive Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises (EASME) and its team of external consultants responsible for monitoring the project.

Certain actions by the Finance ClimAct project will lead to methodological contributions in the area of climate commitments and setting climate targets.

On the basis of its work, the Finance ClimAct project will make recommendations to the Observatory's Steering Committee and Scientific and Expert Committee. The modification of the project's orientation or objectives proposed by the Observatory Steering Committee are submitted for validation to the Steering Committee of Finance ClimAct.

The Committee convenes quarterly and may also propose changes to the Observatory.

The Scientific and Expert Committee

It ensures the rigor and scientific integrity of the Observatory. More information is available in the section " Scientific and Expert Committee"