During the summer of 2018, Nicolas HULOT, Minister of Ecological and Solidarity Transition, and Bruno LE MAIRE, Minister of Economy and Finance, entrusted Pascal CANFIN, former Minister of Development and Director of the Foundation WWF France, and Philippe ZAOUATI, President of Finance for Tomorrow and General Manager Mirova, producing a report to study the usefulness of risk-sharing financial instruments in the context of financing the French transition to the carbon neutrality, in connection with the reflections led around the Climate Finance Day of November 2018.
For a successful transition, the challenge is “to invest more, but more importantly to invest better”. Since public funding alone is not enough to meet this challenge, the challenge for public action is to bring about a massive reorientation of private flows. In addition to proposals to change the regulatory or fiscal framework, the government is interested in the role that innovative financial risk-sharing mechanisms could play in maximizing the leverage effect of public funds.
In this context, the mission aims to produce recommendations for the implementation of financial instruments in which public money is used as a risk-sharing tool, in order to increase the involvement of private investors in the financing of transition sectors facing an investment deficit such as their development remains insufficient to meet public policy objectives.
From this roadmap, this report:
examines issues related to the use of public financial instruments for TE (I)
establishes an overview of financial instruments developed at French and European level (II)
assesses the extent to which they could respond to under-investment situations in certain critical sectors in France in order to succeed in their TE (III)
formulates concrete observations and recommendations to begin the transition to the scale of the French TE through the use of risk-sharing financial instruments (synthesis and recommendations).
The report takes into account, in its recommendations for the use of financial instruments, comprehensive public risk management policies that are or could be deployed (regulation, taxation, support to the structuring of value chains, etc.), accounting and budgetary issues, the need to better mobilize existing programs, particularly at European level, while limiting the risks of moral hazard.
Chaire Economie du Climat
Palais Brongniart, 28 Place de la bourse – 75 002 Paris
FLM- Salle du Séminaire – 4è étage (12.30 pm – 2 pm)