Corporate social and environmental responsibility

A CSR strategy based on four pillars

The Banque de France was one of the first French public institutions to define a CSR strategy, thanks initially to the strong overlap between CSR concerns and its mandate as a central bank (education of the public, sound financing of the economy, etc.). Its new CSR 2021-24 strategy has four main pillars:

1. Acting to preserve the environment
2. Acting to foster HR inclusion and collaborative initiatives
3. Acting as a corporate sponsor in areas related to our missions
4. Leading by example in our investments and procurement for a sustainable economy

Find out more

• CSR Charter
• CSR Book
• Table of indicators - Annual report (in French)
• Banque de France Diversity and Inclusion Charter
• Banque de France Workplace Gender Equality Index (in French)
• Banque de France Responsible Procurement Charter (in French)

Acting to preserve the environment

We have been striving to reduce our environmental footprint since 2008 and have now extended this commitment with three new objectives:

• Pilot and implement a carbon neutral strategy
• Engage the directorates and staff in reducing our carbon footprint
• Use our resources sustainably and help to preserve biodiversity

Our commitment to net zero

We have set ourselves ambitious reduction targets for our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for 2024 and 2030, continuing the efforts made since 2014. The next milestone is 2024, when we aim to have cut our GHG emissions by at least 15% compared with 2019, over a reporting scope that, at this stage, includes energy use, business travel, staff commuting to work, waste and fugitive emissions mainly linked to leaks of refrigerant gases from air conditioning systems.

Our net zero commitment is part of an overall climate strategy that is consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement and uses all possible levers for action. We are notably defining a low carbon trajectory with a medium-term milestone of 2030, and are developing new tools to monitor and control our GHG emissions at a granular level.        

Our energy and digital sobriety approach

We are contributing to the national energy sobriety plan and have defined a clear roadmap with concrete targets for our energy use. We are raising staff awareness of energy sobriety through training, workshops and other tools. To encourage digital sobriety, staff now have access to a personal digital profile where they can monitor and limit their use of our messaging systems. We are also working to reduce the environmental footprint of our IT systems and adopting sustainable practices in our application development.

By the end of 2022, more than 50% of Banque de France staff had taken the online training course on climate challenges. 800 had taken part in one of the Climate Fresk workshops organised by the 38 Banque de France staff trained to hold these sessions. Our target for 2024 is for over 75% of staff to have received training on climate challenges.

In 2021, all staff were provided with a personal digital profile. In 2022, two new indicators were added: the number of pages printed and the number of emails sent between 7 p.m. and 7.30 a.m. (outside normal working hours).

Acting to foster HR inclusion and collaborative initiatives

Our commitments:

• Promote diversity in our hiring and guarantee equal treatment for all
• Guarantee career-long employability for staff
• Co-construct a working environment that fosters wellbeing and initative-taking

Our commitment to equality and diversity

We aim to ensure that by 2024 at least 35% of female staff hold positions of responsibility (deputy director or above at the head office or in the branch network), and are continuing our efforts to reduce the gender pay gap. In terms of governance, our target is for at least 40% of our Executive Board members to be female by 2024, four years ahead of the legal deadline. We are also committed to keeping the share of disabled staff in our workforce at a minimum of 6%.

Our action to improve employability and create a balanced working environment

The skills needed to carry out our different activities are changing. As a result, we have negotiated a career management agreement with social partners, and signed a company-wide training and skills development agreement that goes beyond the legal framework in place.

Regarding the working environment, we have signed agreements to foster remote working and create a better work-life balance. We also encourage participative approaches, especially for projects to reduce our environmental footprint. Staff are invited to take part in these initiatives through in-house challenges and intrapreneurship (laboratory gardens, digital sobriety, re-use of shredded banknotes, marketplace for swapping and giving away items).

Acting as a corporate sponsor

The Banque de France uses corporate sponsorship as a tool to serve the public interest. Its main sponsorship focuses are:

Cultural heritage

We strive to preserve and enrich the Bank’s historical heritage (buildings of historical interest, collections, etc.) and make it accessible to the general public (European Heritage Days, exhibitions, organisation of concerts). We also aim to promote our cultural heritage and its links with the Banque de France’s history, key figures in its past and France’s economic and monetary history.

Social and economic inclusion

Our corporate sponsorship in this field focuses on the social integration of vulnerable segments of the population and the socio-economic development of local territories, in partnership with local, general interest associations, economic partners and actors from the social and solidarity economy.

The ecological transition

We support projects linked to preserving the environment and biodiversity, and guiding the energy transition.

The different forms of corporate sponsorship

Our corporate sponsorship can take different forms, at both national and regional level:

• Financial sponsorship: cash donations
• In-kind or industrial sponsorship: gifts of goods or of the use of goods, loan of works of art or items from the Bank’s collections, provision of services
• Skills sponsorship: provision of staff to work free of charge and during their normal working hours

Acting through our investments and procurement for a sustainable economy

We aim to lead by example in our investments and procurement, and involve all staff and directorates in our approach. Our objectives are to:

• Incorporate extra-financial criteria into our project engagement and follow-up
• Continue and disseminate our responsible procurement strategy
• Strengthen our responsible investment approach

A responsible investor

We are continuing to reinforce our responsible investment policy for our own funds and pension liabilities portfolios, which are the sole responsibility of the Banque de France.

A responsible buyer

We are continuing to apply our responsible procurement policy with the aim of encouraging suppliers to commit to reducing their carbon footprint. 250 of our suppliers have signed our Responsible Procurement Charter. At the end of 2022, 35% of our procurement procedures incorporated environmental and societal considerations in the form of criteria or clauses.    

The incorporation of extra-financial criteria into our project engagement and follow-up

We have adopted an innovative approach based on the incorporation of extra-financial criteria into our in-house investment choices (IT projects, real estate and industrial investments). Our goal is to ensure that staff fully understand the impacts of their choices.

The approach has numerous benefits:

• Ensures investment decisions are consistent with the Bank’s business strategy and CSR
• Formalises and emphasises the social, societal and environmental impacts of investments
• Provides tangible and quantifiable criteria that can be integrated into decisions
• Makes project managers actors in the Banque de France’s strategy

Extra-financial analysis has thus been incorporated into the governance of our operational investments, in addition to the financial analysis approach.

We also endeavour to make sure that all IT projects take into account digital sobriety and eco-design considerations.