5612019 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 environmental responsibility: accelerating the ecological and energy transition
of obtaining or have already obtained the BBCA (Bâtiment Bas Carbone Construction (low carbon building construction)) label, awarded to buildings with an exemplary carbon footprint. In 2019, the entity also scored 64/100 overall (gold medal) and was in the top 7% of real estate companies assessed by Ecovadis, the CSR rating platform for suppliers.
In Germany, BNP Paribas Real Estate Property Management offers its clients green energy contracts to reduce their emissions and costs.
Supporting businesses in the shift towards carbon neutrality
Beyond efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, net carbon neutrality must be achieved to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement. This involves offsetting residual carbon emissions (notably through carbon sequestration in soils and plants).
With this in mind, in 2018 BNP Paribas created the social business ClimateSeed, a voluntary carbon offset platform which connects organisations looking to offset some or all of their residual greenhouse gas emissions with carbon sequestration project developers. A year after its launch, 31 project developers selling carbon credits, representing 5.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, are on the platform. In addition to BNP Paribas, ClimateSeed is already working with the UIC(1), Mediaperformances, Julhiet Sterwen, Willis Re and Utopies, to name but a few. A partnership with Paris Aéroport has also been agreed: special terminals have been installed at Orly and Roissy Charles de Gaulle airports so that travellers who want to offset their carbon emissions can do so by making a financial donation to environmental and community projects.
ClimateSeed, which has also been certified by Bertrand Piccard s Solar Impulse Foundation, has signed up to the six standards recognised by the IFC(2) (a financial institution affiliated to the World Bank Group) for the carbon offsetting of its green buildings programme, and has received several awards: 1st prize in the Social, sustainable and responsible banking category at the Customers Insight and Growth Banking Innovation Awards 2019, and the RB Innovation Award 2019 from the Revue Banque, in partnership with the French Banking Federation (FBF).
HELPING PERSONAL BANKING CUSTOMERS LOWER THEIR ENERGY CONSUMPTION The Group is continuing to expand its offering to help individual customers improve the energy efficiency of their homes, via dedicated products or partnerships with industrial players. The Group has undertaken several initiatives to help its customers finance work to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and buy less polluting vehicles.
Retail Banking support
In 2019, French Retail Banking launched the Auto Écologiques and EnergiBio loans:
■ the Auto Écologiques loan is a form of consumer credit used to purchase cars eligible for the 2019 conversion premium. In 2019, 1,057 Auto Écologiques loans were granted for a total of EUR 27 million;
■ ÉnergiBio is a form of consumer credit used to finance energy retrofitting work. In May 2019, the ÉnergiBio rate was set at to 1%, in line with the Auto Écologique loan.
In Belgium, BNP Paribas Fortis offers green retail mortgages to facilitate work to reduce home energy consumption for both new constructions and renovations. At the end of 2019, these green retail mortgages totalled EUR 3.6 billion.
In the United States, Bank of the West offers a discounted rate for some real estate loans to encourage energy retrofitting.
Consumer loans to finance more sustainable goods
BNP Paribas Personal Finance, a subsidiary specialising in consumer credit, is developing innovative products to help its customers finance the purchase of less polluting vehicles or work to make their homes more energy efficient.
In the mobility sector, this translates as partnerships with car manufacturers, particularly in France and the UK, to improve electric vehicle solutions, for example by including home chargers.
In the housing sector in France, the joint subsidiary of EDF and BNP Paribas Personal Finance, Domofinance, which specialises in the financing of energy efficiency in customers homes, financed 41,250 projects in 2019. Outstanding Domofinance loans total more than EUR 1.2 billion.
BNP Paribas Personal Finance has formed similar partnerships elsewhere in Europe, for example with Innogy in Poland, where 10,000 installations were financed in 2019. In addition, 36,900 energy efficiency loans were handled by BNP Paribas Personal Finance France in 2019, with a total value of EUR 0.9 billion. Overall, the subidiary's energy transition book in France totals EUR 2.1 billion.
In the UK, BNP Paribas Personal Finance has unveiled several innovative propositions including: a platform for connecting customers with installers (certified by TrustMark, a government body), and a partnership with the energy company E.ON, resulting in a product that combines an audit of energy efficiency improvements with financing of the work.
Contributing to climate change adaptation efforts
In addition to its efforts to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, BNP Paribas is also involved in efforts to adapt to the already tangible effects of climate change, particularly through microfinance projects (see Products and services that are widely accessible, Commitment 7).
(1) International Union of Railroads.
(2) International Finance Corporation.
