Sustainability

More and more investors want to have a better idea of what will be done with their investment.

To better understand the impact of their investments, they are increasingly interested in the non-financial criteria involved in the composition of their portfolios, mainly in the field of the environment, social issues and governance, or criteria relating to sustainable investment, also called “ESG criteria”.

What does "ESG" mean?

• Environmental criteria indicate the extent to which an institution is concerned with ecology (energy consumption, environmental impact, animal welfare, etc.);
• Social criteria measure the relationship that the institution has with its stakeholders and more specifically with society in general;
• Governance criteria measure the institution’s policy (transparency, conflicts of interest, etc.)

This evolution in the management of investment portfolios is not a new concept for CFB as an issuer.

Sustainability is at the heart of our activities since our creation. This is a direct consequence of our specific competences linked to education, sport, assistance for young people, or culture.

Already back in 2011, CFB was one of the pioneer asking for an external ESG analysis of our activities. This first rating provided by Vigeo Eiris was renewed in 2016 and in 2023 by Moody’s ESG.

In June 2021, CFB decided to elaborate a framework, confirmed by an external "Second Party Opinion" provided by ISS, allowing the issuance of bonds considered by the Market as “Social Bonds”.

This framework was then updated in 2024 to become ‘Sustainable’, meaning that it includes eligible ‘Green’ expenditures. These expenditures will mainly be linked to the energy renovation of school buildings. Moody's has given the framework a favourable SQS2 rating.

The updated framework is a new opportunity for CFB to confirm not only its specific competencies but also their clear link with the SDG’s developed by the United Nations. In addition, this tool could enable CFB to attract potential new investors focusing on the social and environmental link of our issuances, in line with the European taxonomy (pdf).

An annual report is published each year to demonstrate that the use of proceeds of the eligible borrowed funds complies with the framework.