The city of Besanon will borrow from banks committed to reducing their climate footprint to finance its projects in favor of the ecological transition, such as the energy renovation of schools and gymnasiums, announced Thursday the mayor EELV Anne Vignot.
We have chosen to use the loan for the ecological transition and to take out these loans with banking establishments that are really committed to controlling and reducing their climate footprint, explained Ms. Vignot during a press conference.
The island thus signed loan contracts on Thursday with La Banque Postale (7 million euros), La Banque des Territoires (3.5 million) and La NEF (2 million euros) to finance the energy renovation of gymnasiums and coles, and fight lots of heats.
To select these establishments, the municipality explains that it has undertaken work that is unique in France with the NGOs Oxfam and Reclaim Finance.
These organizations attentive to the impact of financial players on the climate have helped and advised the town hall to draw up a questionnaire for banks, in order to assess their financial transparency, their environmental and climate actions and their actions in terms of social responsibilities.
All the banks answered us, we have actors who are increasingly moving on these issues, underlines Anthony Poulin, deputy mayor in charge of finance. The three chosen establishments were selected on the basis of their financial offers and their responses to the questionnaire, he added.
Borrowing is a means of financing the ecological transition, it is for this that it was necessary to ensure the origin of the funds, justified Mr. Poulin, calling on other communities to embark on the subject.
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Five large French companies have a carbon footprint greater than that of France, four of which are banks, noted the director general of Oxfam France, Ccile Duflot.
So, yes, acting on the way banks invest and work has an absolutely decisive impact on our greenhouse gas emissions, she continued, welcoming the pioneering approach of the city of Besanon.
This initiative by the Bisontine municipality is part of a vast Climate-Solidarity investment plan undertaken by the city for the entire term of Mrs. Vignot. In particular, it provides 60 million euros for the renovation of schools and crèches by 2026.