5312019 Universal registration document and annual financial report - BNP PARIBAS
7 a Committed Bank: information ConCerninG the eConomiC,
soCial, CiviC and environmental resPonsiBility of BnP PariBas
7
Our economic responsibility: financing the economy in an ethical manner
MEASURES TO COMBAT DEFORESTATION AND PROTECT BIODIVERSITY BNP Paribas is committed to fighting deforestation and to protecting biodiversity through several sector-specific policies, its commitment to several multi-stakeholder initiatives and its global statement on the oceans.
In 2019, the Group strengthened its commitment to protecting both terrestrial and marine biodiversity:
■ Terrestrial biodiversity: BNP Paribas strengthened dialogue with its clients to ensure that they adopt best practices in order to protect natural ecosystems and biodiversity.
In 2019, BNP Paribas focused primarily on its Brazilian clients, given the importance of both the Amazon rainforest and the Cerrado savannah regions to global biodiversity. Lengthy discussions were held with clients in these two regions, to confirm that all clients operating there are either already certified, or have begun the certification process. When it comes to beef for example, BNP Paribas bases its policies on the practices of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB)(1), a multilateral initiative to continually improve the sustainability of the beef value chain.
BNP Paribas also asks traders in agricultural commodities to develop traceability systems for the products that they sell.
In order to provide an incentive to its clients to adopt best practices, BNP Paribas offers new sustainable finance tools in which financing costs are index-linked to ESG performance. For example, in December 2019, Bunge took out a Sustainability Linked Loan linked to performance indicators to combat deforestation.
■ Marine biodiversity: the Group published a public statement on ocean protection (see Helping to protect biodiversity and the oceans, in Enabling our clients to transition to a low-carbon economy respectful of the environment, Commitment 10). The Group also takes part in working groups with various different market stakeholders, including responsible practises in tuna fishing industry (Tuna Protection Alliance(2) with the Earthworm Foundation) and on reducing the environmental footprint of shipping (Green Marine Europe label Development Committee together with Surfrider Foundation Europe).
UPHOLDING THE EQUATOR PRINCIPLES ON PROJECT FINANCING As a signatory to the Equator Principles along with 100 other financial institutions worldwide, and in its role as financial service provider and adviser, BNP Paribas works with its customers to identify, assess, and manage the environmental and social risks and impacts linked with major industrial and infrastructure projects. According to these principles, the negative impacts of these projects on communities, ecosystems or the climate must be avoided or minimised, mitigated and/or offset. Projects graded A present significant risks and systematically involve an external review; those graded B present more limited risks; and those graded C present minimal or no risks.
Since end-2017, under the initiative of BNP Paribas and nine other member banks, the Equator Principles Association has completed a targeted review of Principle 3 by focusing on key areas such as social impacts and human rights including Free Prior and Informed Consent, climate change, scope of application, designated countries and applicable standards. The updated version EP4(3) was approved and published in November 2019.
(1) http://grsbeef.org/.
(2) https://www.earthworm.org/our-work/projects/tuna-protection-alliance.
(3) https://equator-principles.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/The-Equator-Principles-November-2019.pdf.
