Green bond holdings double to €21.6 billion across portfolios
Banque de France increased its green bond holdings to €21.6 billion at the end of 2025, up from €10.2 billion in 2024. The central bank expanded exclusions for fossil fuel developers and aligned all private asset portfolios with a 1.5°C trajectory.
Net zero trajectory and fossil exclusions
Banque de France completed €11.4 billion in net green bond purchases in 2025, lifting total green holdings to €21.6 billion.
Green securities now represent 12.7 percent of portfolios held against the monetary base and 10.7 percent of sovereign holdings in the pension fund.
The central bank maintained its sub-1.5°C warming trajectory across equity holdings and combined private asset portfolios, targeting full corporate bond alignment by the end of 2026.
Under revised exclusion criteria, the institution enforces a zero-tolerance policy on thermal coal and unconventional hydrocarbons.
Issuers deriving over 10 percent of revenue from oil, 50 percent from gas, or developing new extraction sites are excluded from all portfolios.
Biodiversity metrics and shareholder pushback
Beyond climate targets, the central bank excludes the bottom 30 percent of corporate issuers based on environmental, social, and governance scores.
Social and sustainability bond holdings reached €7.5 billion, while biodiversity fund commitments totalled €81 million.
In exercising shareholder stewardship, the institution and its subsidiary BDF Gestion attended 770 general meetings with a 95 percent attendance rate, opposing 31 percent of resolutions, including 48 percent on executive pay.
Exemplary ambition, uneven coverage
The policy sets a rigorous benchmark for central bank portfolio decarbonisation and active stewardship.
Yet residual fossil exposures in external funds and uneven sovereign metrics highlight persistent blind spots.
Real transition impact requires extending these strict exclusion thresholds across all asset classes.