Corporate social and environmental responsibility
Thanks to its CSR policy, the Banque de France has incorporated sustainable development into both its strategy and its day-to-day operations.
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:
We have been working to reduce our environmental footprint since 2008 and are stepping up this commitment with two new goals:
We also encourage staff to take part in our sustainability efforts, through initiatives such as in-house challenges and innovative intrapreneurship projects – including lab gardens, digital sobriety, re-use of shredded banknotes and a give-and-swap platform.
Building on the progress made since 2014, we have set ambitious reduction targets for our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, covering 2024 to 2030. Our next key milestone is 2025, when we aim to have cut our GHG emissions by at least 25% compared with 2019. This includes emissions from energy use, business travel, commuting, waste, and fugitive emissions linked to leaks of refrigerant gases from air conditioning systems.
Our net zero commitment is part of a broader climate strategy that is aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. 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.
As part of the national energy sobriety plan, we have defined a clear roadmap with concrete targets for reducing our energy use. We are raising staff awareness of energy sobriety through training, workshops and other tools. On the digital side, staff have access to a personal digital profile where they can monitor their use of digital services, including messaging systems and printers. We are also working to reduce the environmental footprint of our IT systems and adopting sustainable practices in our application development.
Reduction in GHG emissions in 2024 compared with 2019 over the defined reporting scope
Total Banque de France GHG emissions in 2024, in tCO₂e
Number of staff trained on climate challenges in 2024
Number of users of the personal digital profile at the end of 2024 (staff and external service providers)
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).
Number of staff trained on climate challenges in 2022
Number of staff who used their personal digital profile in 2022
Our commitments:
We have already surpassed our goal of having 35% of female staff in management roles (the figure was 38.2% at end-2024) and are continuing our work to close the gender pay gap. In governance, our target is for at least 40% of our Executive Committee 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%.
The skills needed to carry out our different activities are changing. As a result, we have signed a career management agreement with our social partners, along with a company-wide training and skills development plan that goes beyond legal requirements.
Regarding the working environment, we have rolled out agreements to foster remote working and create a better work-life balance.
Share of women holding a management position at the Banque de France at the end of 2024 (up from 23% in 2017)
The Banque de France’s gender equality index score in 2024. The average for French companies with over 50 staff was 88/100
More than 80% of Banque de France staff have signed a remote working agreement
More than 80% of Banque de France staff have signed a remote working agreement
The Banque de France has set itself two main objectives for 2025:
The Banque de France uses corporate sponsorship as a tool to serve the public interest. Its main sponsorship focuses are:
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.
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.
We support projects linked to preserving the environment and nature and guiding the energy transition.
Our corporate sponsorship can take different forms, at both national and regional level:
Number of charitable projects undertaken by individual staff
Number of Banque de France corporate sponsorship projects since 2021
We aim to lead by example in our investments and procurement, and involve all staff and directorates in our approach. Our objectives are to:
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.
We are also continuing to apply our responsible procurement policy, with the aim of encouraging suppliers to commit to reducing their carbon footprint. 559 of our suppliers have signed our Responsible Procurement Charter. At the end of 2024, 95% of our procurement procedures incorporated environmental and societal considerations in the form of criteria or clauses.
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:
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.
In January 2024, the Banque de France published SPASER (Scheme for the Promotion of Socially and Environmentally Responsible Procurement), reaffirming its commitment to using procurement to support the ecological transition, professional inclusion, business ethics and corporate resilience.
SPASER lays out a three-year roadmap that includes adding environmental performance criteria to our tenders and social clauses to our contracts, along with targets for the use of products from the circular economy.
The scheme also places strong emphasis on training procurement staff, equipping buyers and order placers with the knowledge and skills to navigate these new priorities, which require specific expertise. It is also a useful complement to the Banque de France’s Responsible Procurement Charter, which was published in 2019.
Together, these frameworks provide a much broader set of tools to promote our CSR goals, while also recognising and encouraging similar action from the companies we work with, especially in reducing their environmental impact.
We have taken the innovative step of incorporating extra-financial criteria into our internal investments (IT projects, real estate and industrial investments). Our goal is to ensure staff fully understand the impacts of their choices.
The approach offers several benefits:
Extra-financial analysis is now a key part of our governance process for operational investments, in addition to the financial analysis approach.
We are also working to ensure all IT projects take into account digital sobriety and eco-design considerations.
Temperature alignment of the corporate bond component of the Bank’s pension liabilities portfolio, with a target of 1.5°C by 2026
The equity component of the own funds and pension liabilities portfolios has been aligned with a 1.5°C temperature target since the end of 2023
Updated on the 17th of July 2025