2020 Universal registration document and annual financial report - BNP PARIBAS 597
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A COMMITTED BANK: INFORMATION CONCERNING THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, CIVIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY OF BNP PARIBAS
Our environmental responsibility: accelerating the ecological and energy transition
FULLY SUPPORTING CORPORATE CLIENTS IN THEIR ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSITION Climate change, circular economy and preserving biodiversity have become systemic challenges for companies. The Group offers to support its clients throughout their energy and ecological transition strategy, which may cover efforts to reduce their energy consumption (energy efficiency), decarbonise it, offset their residual greenhouse gas emissions, or develop more circular business models to minimise their impact on biodiversity.
Support for SMEs
In France, French Retail Banking offers solutions to support all its corporate clients in the energy and environmental transition. A broad- based set of solutions, listed in a Green Book, was developed jointly with the Group s other businesses (Arval and BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions) and the partner Économie D Énergie (EDE), around three areas of action by corporate customers to reduce their energy consumption: real estate, transport and mobility, movable properties. A Changetogreen.fr programme has also been developed to help companies improve the energy efficiency of their buildings. As at end-2020, the entity s support for the energy transition of French SMEs stood at EUR 3.1 billion. Lastly, French Retail Banking specifically supports energy transition players by providing them with a centre of expertise, the Green Desk, which already supports more than 1,000 clients.
In Belgium, through its Sustainable Business Competence Centre (SBCC), BNP Paribas Fortis provides expertise and support to its SME clients in order to design and finance infrastructure for the production of renewable energy or to improve the energy efficiency of their facilities. Its aim is to support companies in their transition towards a sustainable business model that addresses climate change.
In Poland, BNP Paribas Bank Polska, in partnership with the Polish development bank, implemented a government guarantee called BiznesMax to secure loans granted to SME for innovative environmental investments. The guarantee covers projects related to the energy efficiency of buildings, renewable energies, process efficiency, electric mobility and the circular economy.
Arval and BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions, major players in sustainable mobility support
Arval, a BNP Paribas subsidiary specialising in vehicle leasing and mobility, has put sustainability at the heart of its strategic plan for 2020- 2025, Arval Beyond , with two new offers:
■ 360° Mobility, an integrated sustainable mobility offer including electric bicycle leasing, carpooling, and micro-mobility;
■ Good for You, Good for Me , a five-step methodology designed to support clients define and implement the energy transition strategy for their vehicle fleet.
At the same time, Arval has completely redesigned its CSR strategy and has set itself ambitious targets for 2025, including 500,000 electrified vehicles in the leased fleet, and a 30% reduction in this fleet s CO2 emissions compared to 2020.
BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions has developed a specific offer to finance charging stations for electric vehicles, underwritten for EUR 4 million in 2020. By offering this service to companies, the subsidiary intends to encourage the adoption of low-carbon vehicles by expanding the network of charging stations.
For a major European car manufacturer, BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions offered a leasing solution to finance an investment of EUR 70 million in a new production and assembly line for electric and hybrid engines.
Together, Arval and BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions are partnering with other Group subsidiaries and external partners to offer integrated mobility offers to corporate clients and individuals. In Spain, an agreement between BNP Paribas and the energy supplier Iberdrola makes it possible to offer the leasing of electric vehicles, the financing and installation of charging points, and the supply of green electricity at the same time.
Finally, the Group supports the electrification of public transport networks; BNP Paribas took part in two Green Loans dedicated to the acquisition of more than 600 electric buses for the metropolis of Santiago de Chile.
Developing the sharing economy through lease finance
The leasing offer proposed by the Arval and BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions subsidiaries is a service based on the use, rather than the ownership, of an asset, thus optimising the use of assets and taking into account their whole life cycle.
In France, BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions offers a range of services relating to the leasing of low-carbon vehicles, such as natural gas- powered lorries, support for customers regarding their economic and environmental performance, long-term leasing offer of LEDs and green real estate leasing to encourage clients to select energy efficient buildings.
The BNP Paribas 3 Step IT joint venture offers companies a complete service for managing their technological equipment at each stage of its life cycle. This circular economy approach is integrated across the entire life cycle of the equipment and has many environmental benefits: 97% of products taken back are reconditioned and resold and 3% are recycled responsibly; extending the life of a piece of equipment delays the production of new equipment and distributes the carbon footprint related to its production over two users; the resale of equipment enables companies to reduce CO2 emissions associated with this equipment by approximately 36%. In 2020, BNP Paribas 3 Step IT was awarded the Solar Impulse Efficient Solutions label, which recognises practical and affordable solutions that combine environmental protection and financial viability.
