French SRI label (Label ISR)
France's public label for socially responsible investment funds, which the PACTE law requires unit-linked life insurance contracts to offer.
A saver cannot check a fund's non-financial approach alone; the label, created by the French Ministry of the Economy, certifies that an analysis and selection method is applied and audited by a certification body. The PACTE law turned it into a distribution tool: every multi-fund life insurance contract must offer at least one labeled unit-linked fund, which puts the insurer in the position of vouching for the choice offered. Long criticized as too lenient, the label was reformed to exclude companies developing new fossil fuel projects. For the insurer, the risk is greenwashing: presenting as sustainable an investment option whose label guarantees only a method.
Created in 2016, the label received a new framework applicable from March 1, 2024, which notably excludes companies developing new oil, gas or coal projects, with funds already labeled given until January 1, 2025 to comply; since January 1, 2020, the PACTE law has required at least one labeled unit-linked fund in life insurance contracts.
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