568 2019 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
TAKING AN ACTIVE PART IN PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLECTIVE INITIATIVES
Participation in the work of Entreprises pour l Environnement and publication of the study on carbon neutrality in France
In 2019, Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, Director and Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas, was appointed Chairman of the environmental business association EpE (Entreprises pour l Environnement) for a three-year term. In this role, he has been able to showcase and promote EpE s actions and reports in his public statements. In 2019, these actions focused on the publication of the study ZEN 2050 Imagining and Building a Carbon- Neutral France (1), which makes 14 recommendations for action to be taken as soon as possible to ensure that the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 remains feasible.
Participation in the Hydrogen Council to prepare hydrogen development for the energy and ecological transition
BNP Paribas is convinced that hydrogen produced from clean energy can play an important role in the energy and ecological transition and officially joined the Hydrogen Council in early 2020 and attended the G20 side event in Japan in 2019. The Hydrogen Council brings together leading multinationals in the energy, transport and industrial sectors. These companies share the same long-term vision: that hydrogen can
drive the energy and ecological transition. The Hydrogen Council seeks not only to accelerate investment in development and commercialisation in the hydrogen and fuel cell sector, but to encourage key stakeholders to increase their support for hydrogen in the future energy mix.
Other partnerships
BNP Paribas has also partnered with various stakeholders to raise awareness and promote solutions to climate and environmental challenges, including:
■ by approving, along with 30 other bank signatories of the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB), the UNEP FI s Collective Commitment to Climate Action. These banks are committed to aligning their loan portfolios to reflect and finance the low-carbon and climate-resilient economy necessary to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement;
■ by participating in the analysis by Group experts of the solutions proposed by the Solar Impulse Foundation, whose aim is to choose 1,000 solutions that protect the environment while being viable, and to award them the Solar Impulse Efficient Solution label;
■ by launching in 2019 a three-year partnership with Craig Neeson, award-winning film maker, narrator and ambassador for sustainable development, director of the film A Plastic Ocean. The aim of this partnership is to raise awareness of various environmental issues (such as Ocean pollution and the climate crisis) by giving presentations, for example at the 12 events organised by BNP Paribas in 2019.
(1) Available online at http://www.epe-asso.org/zen-2050-imaginer-et-construire-une-france-neutre-en-carbone-mai-2019/.
