The Grand Paris Express metro is driving the ecological transition

The Grand Paris Express will change the face of Greater Paris and the lives of all its residents. It is currently the largest development project in Europe. It will provide rapid links between suburban areas with four new metro lines around Paris. Close to 3 million passengers will have faster ways to get to their destinations, and it will bring people in the Paris metro area closer to jobs, learning, advanced healthcare facilities, and recreational activities. It will replace the personal vehicle on a large number of commutes.

Grand Paris Express is also an urban development project. It will give rise to a variety of new developments leading to greater diversity in terms of housing, retail spaces and services – thereby stemming urban sprawl and human encroachment into natural spaces. On the land it purchased to build the metro system, Société des grands projets has planned over 100 real estate development projects in neighbourhoods surrounding the stations. These projects will meet strict environmental criteria by prioritising construction methods with low-carbon impact, minimal designs for buildings, and long-term projects. Nature will play a prominent role in an effort to protect biodiversity in the cities. 

Green financing

We are the first bond issuer to adopt a 100% green EMTN programme. These green bonds are solely allocated to build the Grand Paris Express. The bond issue complies with the 2018 Green Bond Principles (GBPs) and was certified by the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI). The verifier was Sustainalytics.
We are also a member of the Finance for Tomorrow initiative and the Corporate Forum on Sustainable Finance. As such, we aim to be a driver in defining high standards for green financing and lead the conversation on the subject in the market.