Lenders will have to commit. Last week the municipal council of Lille voted its initial budget for the year 2022. The text is intended to be eco-responsible in several respects, in particular by a significant increase in investments in favor of the ecological transition. There is another more unexpected point: from now on, the city conditions the choice of banks from which it will borrow money on their commitment to the planet.
Lille’s initial 2022 budget is set at 497.8 million euros. Repayments of the city’s loans and debts amount to 32.5 million out of an outstanding amount of 349.4 million. The rest must be “directly in favor of Lille”, assures the town hall. There is indeed a sharp increase in investments “for ecological transition and social justice”, which go from 91 million in 2021 to 115 million this year. For example, the energy renovation of schools, 3,000 tree plantations or even the revegetation of nurseries…
More than 70 million green euros to find
These investments, amounting to 147.6 million euros (including 28.6 million for debt repayment), will not be entirely financed thanks to the money in the city’s coffers, but half thanks to the loan (72.9 million euros). If the average Frenchman who wishes to take out a loan from a bank must submit to the conditions of the establishment, for Lille, it is the opposite and this does not prevent the banks from jostling at the gate.
For the previous budget, the city had already set up “green loans” by choosing its “banking partners” according to their commitment to the climate. In 2022, in addition to committing to the climate, banks will have to answer a questionnaire on their “extra-financial commitments” in the face of the climate emergency and on the projects related to fossil fuels that they could support. The city will establish a “climate rating” of banks and borrow the greenest millions.