France: The EIB and CDC Biodiversité have signed a partnership to look into biodiversity credit placements

• The European Investment Bank (EIB) will conduct a study on the voluntary biodiversity market in France regarding credit placements issued by CDC Biodiversité.
• Biodiversity features in the EIB Group's Roadmap as part of its role as the climate bank.
• This partnership combines the financial expertise and strategic vision of the EIB and the innovative and operational commitment of CDC Biodiversité – a pioneer of compensatory mitigation.

The goal of this partnership is for the EIB to conduct a study to collect data on the depth of the voluntary biodiversity market in France – and potentially in other EU Member States – in terms of CDC Biodiversité’s issuance of credit placements. Its findings will be used in another study for the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment. If it is deemed necessary to expand the scope of financial instruments in the biodiversity sector, the conclusions from this study will be used to make recommendations aimed at increasing demand in the voluntary market and propose other monetisation facilities.

CDC Biodiversité – a subsidiary of Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations – implements long-term solutions to support biodiversity tailored to the needs of players in the public and private sectors. A pioneer of renaturing operations in France, in 2008 CDC Biodiversité created the first-ever nature compensation area, in the Crau plain in the Bouches-du-Rhône (13) department, in Cossure – an area ideal for sheep farming and biodiversity.

SNCs intended solely for public and private developers under the Avoid Reduce Offset (ERC) scheme have become natural compensation, restoration and renaturing areas under the Green Industry Act, which came into effect in October 2023. As such, they can enter into voluntary operations undertaken by economic players.

Biodiversity features in the EIB Group's Roadmap as part of its climate bank role. Providing financing for renaturing operations is currently a niche segment. In addition to public funds, transactions and instruments that leverage private funds need to be significantly scaled up in order to significantly increase their impact.

Since 2019, the EIB and CDC Biodiversité have been working together on nature protection. The EIB provided financial support to CDC Biodiversité for the Cossure project. Since then, the two institutions have worked more closely to support entities fostering biodiversity.

This partnership combines the financial strength and strategic vision of the EIB and the innovative and operational commitment of CDC Biodiversité – a pioneer of the compensatory mitigation instrument. CDC Biodiversité has also developed the Global Biodiversity Score, a tool to calculate the biodiversity footprint of economic players and the Nature 2050 programme, in order to help regions adapt to climate change and meet the challenges associated with the green transition.

“As in 2008, with the compensation units for the Cossure project, CDC Biodiversité is committed to developing voluntary credits for the first natural compensation, restoration and renaturing areas. Thanks to the partnership with the EIB, we will be able to pinpoint and understand the expectations of investors in the voluntary biodiversity market in order to continue supporting projects for the general good, and to mobilise the necessary resources to achieve environmental restoration objectives,” said CDC Biodiversity CEO Marianne Louradour.

“Our long-term partnership with CDC Biodiversité is key for identifying best practices that will help to increase the sums invested in the voluntary biodiversity market. Biodiversity and the climate are closely connected, and in order to meet our carbon neutrality targets, we must incorporate biodiversity into all our operations and attract more private investors,” said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle.

Background information

About the European Investment Bank

The EIB is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. It finances investments that contribute to EU policy objectives. EIB projects bolster competitiveness, drive innovation, promote sustainable development, enhance social and territorial cohesion, and support a just and swift transition to climate neutrality.

About CDC Biodiversité

CDC Biodiversité develops and tailors economic, environmental and financial solutions to put in place impactful projects to restore and preserve biodiversity, before ensuring their long-term management. Created in 2008 by the Caisse des Dépôts group, of which it is a private subsidiary, its purpose is to combine biodiversity and economic development for the general good. CDC Biodiversité’s expertise enables it to provide advisory services and training on all topics related to biodiversity. Its Global Biodiversity Score tool calculates the biodiversity footprint of companies and financial institutions, and since November 2024, of local and regional authorities.