RGREEN INVEST announced that it has amended its articles of association to become an “entreprise à mission [1]”. For more than 10 years, RGREEN INVEST’s founder Nicolas Rochon has been convinced that green finance must play a central role in mitigating climate change. By giving a legal status to the purpose initiated with the company’s creation, long before the enactment of France’s Action Plan for Business Growth & Transformation (“loi PACTE”), RGREEN INVEST is stepping up its drive to support the energy transition by financing infrastructures through equity and quasi-equity investments.
RGREEN INVEST, which has since grown to employ more than 20 employees and oversee a portfolio of over €1 billion of assets under management, now aims to broaden its scope of action in favour of climate change adaptation. This approach is illustrated by the company’s mission, also known as its “raison d’être”, which is now enshrined in its articles of association: “fighting climate change by accelerating both the energy transition and society’s adaptation through the financing of infrastructures with a positive and sustainable impact on the environment, local populations and territories.”
“This new step is mostly symbolic, since we have been fully committed to accelerating the energy transition and society’s adaptation to climate change for more than 10 years,” commented Nicolas Rochon. “Today, the status of ‘entreprise à mission’ is important for two reasons: on the one hand, it represents – like the Greenfin label received by our main investment funds – a badge of trust for investors who see an increasing number of funds presented as green. On the other hand, it helps pave the way and commit the project leaders that we finance and monitor on a daily basis to a process of continuous improvement with regard to environmental, social and economic issues,” he added.
Creation of monitoring criteria to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals
With this mission, RGREEN INVEST is committed to financing infrastructure based on criteria that will help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030:
- Enable the large-scale development of efficient, low-carbon alternatives to carbon-based solutions currently widely used (SDG 13 – Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts)
- Invest in sustainable infrastructure that creates value and jobs at the local level, especially in developing regions (SDG 9 – Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation)
- Support technologies adapted to the specific energy problems and challenges of the territories and populations (SDG 7 – Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all)
- Contribute to the deployment of low environmental impact infrastructure (SDG 12 – Ensure responsible consumption and production)
- Support farmers in implementing sustainable production methods (SDG 2 – End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture)
[1] In France, the “Entreprise à mission” status means that an organization is committed to achieving sustainable development objectives, beyond economic performance.
RGREEN INVEST maintains its policy of continuous improvement in terms of ESG
In a perspective of improvement and best practice implementation, RGREEN INVEST will strengthen and develop its human capital, as well as its policy, procedures, and monitoring tools for ESG – starting in 2021.
Therefore, in addition to an ESG policy that is even more demanding than in previous years, RGREEN INVEST is taking the lead on new EU regulations even before they fully come into force. All the funds managed by the company are already compliant with Article 9 of the EU’s SFDR Regulation. RGREEN INVEST also plans to deploy the analysis of its portfolios in line with the EU Taxonomy, with a high degree of compliance expected for each managed fund.