1www.grameen-credit-agricole.org

NEWSLETTER

JEAN-LUC PERRON MANAGING DIRECTOR OF THE GRAMEEN CRÉDIT AGRICOLE FOUNDATION

1. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/22787/9781464806735.pdf2. http://www.oecd.org/env/cc/oecd-cpi-climate-finance-report.htm

T he COP 21 will complete an exceptional multilateral negotiations round which has taken place throughout 2015. The Addis Ababa conference on Development Finance and

the New York Conference on Sustainable Development Goals have helped establishing a strong link between the fight against global warming and the fight against poverty. Poor people are indeed concentrated in areas that will bear the brunt of climate change effects and they are also those who are less likely to be able to anticipate these changes, to protect themselves against or adapt to them due to lack of sufficient financial resources, insurance schemes, as well as access to technology and education. According to a recent report by the World Bank1, there are 100 million people in danger of falling into extreme poverty by 2030 because of global warming, in contradiction with sustainable development goals. Small family farms in developing countries will be, are already exposed to major climatic hazards. Confronted with climatic episodes that destroy their crops and livestock, farmers will have no other option but to migrate to less exposed areas. The link between global warming, poverty and migration is thus permanently established.

A recent OECD study2 shows that public and private funding allocated in 2014 by developed countries to global warming in developing countries amounted to $ 62 billion. The commitment made in Copenhagen towards an investment of $ 100 billion a year

by 2020 seems close at hand. However, only 16% of the funding identified in 2014 was allocated to climate change adaptation measures. Unfortunately, though, except if we speak about a lost generation, neither herders from Mali facing deepening drought, nor Indian producers of sugarcane or rice exposed to the effects of El Niño, or the people of Bangladesh who live on the unstable islands that form on the course of the Brahmaputra, can wait for commitments made by the States to limit their carbon emissions to result in a shift of global warming, otherwise relative.

A larger share of climate finance should go to the protection and adaptation of the most vulnerable populations, including by creating a real crop insurance safety net, based on meteorological indexes. Thanks to technological advances, in particular the use of satellite imagery, it is possible to offer crop insurance products covering risks from adverse weather conditions at an acceptable cost. Today, except in India, only a tiny minority of farmers benefit from this type of insurance in developing countries. Through close cooperation between the public sector, private companies and NGOs, it is possible to extend this mechanism to the vast majority of the 475 million farms of less than 5 hectares in developing countries and improve their resilience in ten years. If it is possible and fair, it is our duty to do so.

FOREWORD

This aphorism of the humorist Mark Twain is no longer topical on the eve of COP 21 which will bring in Paris representatives of nearly 200 countries to sharply alter the trajectory of global warming, with its increased

frequency and severity of floods and droughts, observing what are probably the first manifestations and the serious effects linked to the El Niño phenomenon.

November 2015

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“Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it”

Several of the presentations shown at the 14-15 September Conference are available here.

To consult the World Map of Microinsurance and download the landscape studies visit worldmapofmicroinsurance.org

More information on the Index Insurance Forum: click here.

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GRAMEEN CRÉDIT AGRICOLENEWSLETTER

Index-based insurance discussed in Paris, with the contribution of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation

The MiN launches the “Microinsurance World Map”

NEWS

On 14 and 15 September, the IFC (World Bank Group) organised a world conference on index-based insurance at the OECD headquarters in Paris, while on 16 September afternoon, researchers and academics presented their work on this same topic during an academic workshop held on the premises of Pacifica - Crédit Agricole Assurances

The microinsurance sector launches a new dynamic platform providing key global data on microinsurance

Over 300 people attended the conference and discussed the relevance of index-based insurance to meet the new Sustainable Development Goals, in particular food security,

the role of public and private stakeholders in the development of a market for agricultural index-based insurance in developing countries, and technical and marketing innovations. In particular, Thierry Langreney, Pacifica CEO and Jean-Luc Perron, Managing Director of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, spoke in these debates.

This was the first event of this magnitude dedicated to the issue of agricultural index-based insurance. The number and quality of the speakers show the interest index-based insurance raises among insurers as well as development organisations. In particular, Elodie Lematte, advisor to Stéphane Le Foll, French Minister of Agriculture, emphasised the innovative nature of index-based insurance and its potential to protect a growing number of farmers worldwide, either in Europe or in developing economies. ACRE Africa and PlaNet Gua-rantee, partners of the Foundation, also shared their experience as pioneer actors of agricultural microinsurance in Africa.

The interactive map titled “World Map of Microinsurance”, launched by the Microinsurance Network and Munich Re Foundation, enables insurers and microinsurance practitioners

to gain a birds-eye view on the landscape of microinsurance worldwide, and to search and extract sector-specific data by region to gain insights into trends in microinsurance, fostering better decision-making at an operational and policy level. […]

“The World Map of Microinsurance programme is a key focus for the Network in terms of creating long-term partnerships with regional programme funders, universities and insurers, looking at encouraging

On 16 September, the Research Initiative of the Innovation Finance Division, with which the Foundation is closely associated, helped to take stock of the progress of research in the field of agricultural index-based insurance. Constance Collin, PhD candidate working at Pacifica and the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, made a presentation on the choice and quality of indices for the design of agricultural insurance products.

data analysis and utilisation to address essential market questions” explains Véronique Faber, Executive Director at the Microinsurance Network.

A series of tri-annual regional landscape studies, initiated by the Munich Re Foundation, provide the data underpinning the World

Map of Microinsurance (WMM). “The mission of the WMM project is to collect data on the industry in an unbiased manner, with the objective of showing market potential, monitoring growth, identifying trends, and promoting innovation”, underlines Dirk Reinhard, Vice Chair at the Munich Re Foundation. […]

Access the 17 new Sustainable Development Goals, here.

For more information and to join us, click here.

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GRAMEEN CRÉDIT AGRICOLENEWSLETTER

The new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

As a reminder, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), established in 2000, were to be achieved in 2015. Despite progress in the last fifteen years, including halving the number of school-age children not attending school and the reduction of extreme poverty from 1.9 billion people in 1990 to 836 million people in 2015, the MDGs have not been achieved

A nnounced at the 2012 “Rio + 20” Summit, adopted by the UN General Assembly in late September 2015,

the SDGs take over the MDGs. Over eight million people participated

in a worldwide survey and 70 countries worked on the definition of the new targets that will come into force on 1st January 2016. This consultative approach is innovative, as Anne-Laure Jeanvoine, Advisor to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recalled: “these SDGs have been developed by Member States, with the contribution of many parties and the civil society, while the MDGs were set by the United Nations and countries had to adopt them”. SDGs also differ from MDGs since they apply to all countries, unlike MDGs which have often been perceived as an agenda planned by the North for the South. These new

Participate in the world’s Solidarity Fondue record on 3 December atPalais Brongniart in Paris, with Babyloan.org!

Y ou can now reserve your places for the biggest Solidarity Fondue of the world, next 3 December at Palais Brongniart in Paris! Contribute to the Ulule campaign of Babyloan, partner of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation since 2010, and get

the benefit of preferential prices and many other counterparties!The Solidarity Fondue is the closing dinner of the Babyloan annual fund-raising

campaign, “le Grand Emprunt” (formerly Défi National). All proceeds will be lent to microentrepreneurs working in the food sector. For its part, Babyloan agrees to lend them at least € 10,000!

Your contribution will help Babyloan to make this great project a success! Babyloan and the Foundation hope to see you on 3 December (please note the number of places is limited)!

Babyloan, in which the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation is a 4.2% shareholder, is the first European crowdfunding platform for solidarity loans.

This winter, go for a Solidarity Fondue with Babyloan, partner of the Foundation!

objectives are based on the three pillars of sustainable development: social, economic but also the environment - a pillar to which only one objective had been granted in the MDGs. SDGs are very ambitious – maybe too much according to NGOs who consider the number of targets too high, increasing the risk of dilution of priorities.

Indeed, although it has generated much excitement, the SDGs’ programme has also been criticized. These numerous objectives are considered difficult to implement in view of the financing required to achieve them. According to the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Financing of Sustainable Development who tried, in August 2014, to quantify the financial needs of this programme, it would take nearly $ 66 billion a year to eradicate extreme poverty in all countries. There are

also between $ 5,000 and $ 6,000 billion of annual investment that would be required to set up the infrastructure required for development, such as electricity, water or agriculture. Knowing that international public funding of development reached $ 239 billion in 2014, public action can not fund everything. The mobilisation of private resources, on which the UN relies, will be particularly necessary.

Access the webdocumentary, here.

View here the best moments of the 2015 edition of the Convergences World Forum.

To read the full President’s speech: click here (in French).

For more information on the Convergences Global Forum, click here.

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GRAMEEN CRÉDIT AGRICOLENEWSLETTER

Investisseurs & Partenaires launches the webdocumentary “Small is powerful: fight against stereotypes on Sub-Saharan Africa”

ZERO EXCLUSION, ZERO CARBON, ZERO POVERTY: new success of the Convergences World Forum with the presence of the President of the Republic, François Hollande

During the first two days at the Palais Brongniart, the Convergences World Forum had the honour to welcome the President of the Republic, François Hollande, who delivered a speech on the commitment to humanitarian causes and to development

The project “Small is Powerful”, initiated by photographer Joan Bardeletti and Investisseurs & Partenaires, took a major step forward with the launch of a dedicated web-documentary at

the Convergences Forum (Paris) and during the debates organised by Le Monde Afrique (Abidjan).

Broadcasted in partnership with Le Monde Afrique and RFI, the webdocumentary questions some of the most common stereotypes on development issues in Sub-Saharan Africa, illustrated by field studies on five SMEs of the continent.

Welcomed at the Bourse by Jean-Luc Perron, Vice President of Convergence, Frédéric de Saint-Sernin, Managing Director of ACTED, and Ms. Annick

Girardin, Secretary of State for Development and Francophony, the President of the Republic focused his intervention on the French policy of welcoming refugees, the Sustainable Development Goals on their way to adoption by the UN General Assembly and the preparation of the Paris Conference on climate change.

He welcomed the commitment of Convergences and the diversity of actors gathered at the Forum. He endorsed the slogan: Zero poverty, Zero carbon, and stressed the importance of the Paris Conference on Climate Change: “This is an appointment that the planet has with itself and which should lead to solutions”. The President of the Republic insisted on the mobilisation of

all: “We need you. Without the mobilisation of the organisations you represent, without the engagement of the people, we will not succeed.”

During these three days, which were attended by over 7,000 participants and 355 speakers, the Global Forum has established itself again this year as the major meeting event and place for debate of market players in a more rational, equitable, sustainable economy. The Convergences Award, workshops and conferences have highlighted innovation on behalf of this vision: Zero exclusion, Zero carbon, Zero poverty.

Support the tribute and humanitarian album of Doolin’ for the benefit of agricultural development in AfricaFormed in 2005, Doolin’ takes its name from a small village on the west coast of Ireland, famous for its traditional music and a Mecca for “craic”, this typically Irish sense of celebration. After only a few months, Doolin’ already rubbed itself against the greatest groups and shared the stage with Alan Stivell at the festival of Carmaux

More information about fundraising campaign, click here.

Soukeyna N’Diaye BA, Executive Director of INAFI International and member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation, appointed to the National Council for Development and International Solidarity (CNDSI)

The CNDSI was established by Decree on 11 December, 2013 as a result of the Assises du Développement et

de la Solidarité Internationale and allows regular consultation between public authorities and civil society and economic development and international solidarity actors on priorities, resources and coherence

Today, Doolin’ is preparing its fourth studio album through which it will celebrate its 10th anniversary and the wonderful musical opportunities generated by the Irish

emigration towards the United States over 170 years. And to do so, the group launches a fundraising campaign on the Kiss Kiss Bank Bank website.

But not only...Against the background of the 1845 Great Famine in Ireland, a

major humanitarian disaster, the group wishes to give meaning to

its music and contribute modestly in the fight against hunger by joining forces with the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and committing, through this anniversary album and the associated tour, to donate the proceeds to the Foundation from the first two years, to support specific agricultural development projects in Africa.

The release of the album is scheduled for St Patrick’s Day, in March 2016! Support the Doolin’ project and commit yourselves by their side to support agricultural development in Africa through the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation.

of French development policy. The CNDSI meets regularly, under the chairmanship of Annick Girardin, Secretary of State for Development and Francophony.

Mrs Soukeyna N’Diaye Ba was appointed as part of the College of foreign qualified personalities.

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GRAMEEN CRÉDIT AGRICOLENEWSLETTER

Phare, “The Cambodian Circus” has met with great success during its first American tourPhare Performing Social Enterprise (PPSE), partner of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation since 2013, is a pioneering social business company in Cambodia that creates, produces and broadcasts live shows

PPSE, which employs young artists from disadvantaged backgrounds trained by the Phare Ponleu Selpak association, has just completed its first American tour in eight cities.

In San Francisco, as part of the annual Give2Asia Gala, the young artists captivated audiences by their energy, emotion, enthusiasm and talent. Professor Muhammad Yunus and former US Secretary of State, George P. Shultz, were present during this memorable evening.

Further information on PPSE, click here.

More information about the Google Impact Challenge and the winners, here

What does the Google Impact Challenge Award mean to you?

We were very touched to receive the People’s Choice Award, especially as it see-med to us after 10 years that the project had gained notoriety in the “social business” community but not necessarily among the general public. This is for us a great recog-nition of the relevance of the project and of the general public interest and will to get involved on the issue of access to wa-ter worldwide by partnering on innovative projects that can bring about change.

This award has also allowed us to measure the project’s ability to federate all those involved for 10 years, especially through the strong mobilisation of institutions such as Crédit Agricole SA or the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, who have been supporting us for a long time.

What impact will that award have on the development of your company?

This award will allow us to continue the wide-scale deployment of the project. Today, the model has been tested, so we therefore need to deploy it in new villages but also to strengthen our ability to monitor the progress of each new plant through capacity-building projects on technology.

We also hope that the notoriety of Google will allow us to spread the project and attract new partners, in France and abroad. This also means opening the pro-ject up to social entrepreneurs’ networks, start-ups and other innovative projects as well as to Google’s human resources to help us develop the project.

What are the projects of 1001fontaines through UV+Solaire over the next five years?

Our goal is to implement 90 additional plants in Cambodia to reach a network of 240 plants, and the full autonomy of the project through the micro-franchise model developed, which will above all make it possible for one million people to access quality drinking water.

In the longer term, we hope that the full model demonstration will convince other actors to implement it in other countries. The needs are numerous and we hope that many of us will, in the future, spread the 1001fontaines model worldwide.

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GRAMEEN CRÉDIT AGRICOLENEWSLETTER

Congratulations to 1001fontaines, winner of the 2015 People’s Choice Google Impact Challenge Award

Three questions to François Jaquenoud

The winners of the Google Impact Challenge, organised for the first time in France, were unveiled on 8 October in Paris, in a ceremony held at the Quay d’Orsay, in the presence of Bernard Kouchner. Four daring projects led by associations and French foundations won each € 500,000 and will receive active support from Google for carrying them out

FOCUS SOCIAL BUSINESS

Among the winners, the access to drinking water project developed by the NGO 1001fontaines, created by François Jaquenoud, partner of the Foundation since

2012, won the People’s Choice Award. The other three winners were selected by the jury. No doubt the votes of the employees of Crédit Agricole, among which the message of 1001fontaines was widely circulated, contributed to this success.

1001fontaines, through its social franchise UV+ Solaire, provides rural people in Cambodia, Madagascar and India easy access, at an affordable price, to quality water. For this purpose, UV+ Solaire has developed an original model of water purification and distribution as well as an innovative social franchise model

of processing and marketing plants for the benefit of local microentrepreneurs. 1001fontaines and UV+ Solaire help improve living conditions and health of more than 200,000 very poor people and boost the local economic fabric

The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, which has invested €150,000 in equity and quasi-equity in UV+ Solaire, thus holding a 20% share, supports the 1001fontaines project because of its innovative and replicable model, and because of its strong economic, social and health impact in rural areas.

More information on the European Microfinance Week, click here.

More information on the 6th European Microfinance Award, click here.

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GRAMEEN CRÉDIT AGRICOLENEWSLETTER

FOCUS PARTNERSHIP

Focus Partnership: European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP)

T he e-MFP organises in Luxembourg, from 18 to 20 November, the European Microfinance Week, the meeting and discussion place of all European stakeholders (banks and

financial institutions, government agencies, NGOs, consultants, researchers and academics) involved in the microfinance field in developing countries.

On this occasion, the 6th European Microfinance Award, which is endowed with € 100,000 and organised by InFiNe, will reward a microfinance institution that has distinguished itself on “Microfinance in post-disaster/post-conflict areas (fragile states)”.

The Award selection committee selected three finalists: Crédit Rural of Guinea, The First Microfinance Institution of Syria

and Taytay Sa Kauswagan Inc. of the Philippines. The winner will be announced by HRH Grand Duchess of Luxembourg on 19 November, during the ceremony to be held at the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg.

It should be noted that among the ten best microfinance institutions nominated for the Award, there are two institutions partner of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation: Faten from Palestine and Paidek from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Partners since 2008, e-MFP and the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation cooperate in promoting responsible microfinance in developing countries and better management and governance practices.

Credit Photo:Philippe LISSAC / Didier GENTILHOMME / 1001Fontaines /Présidence de la République / Convergences