2018 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT AND ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT

2018 Registration document and annual fi nancial report - BNP PARIBAS514

7 A COMMITTED BANK: INFORMATION CONCERNING THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, CIVIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY OF BNP PARIBAS

Our strategy

BNP PARIBAS PUBLIC POSITIONS BNP Paribas approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR) is framed by the thematic and sector-specifi c public positions it has adopted. With a presence in 72 countries, the Group carries out its operations in full respect for numerous commitments, working groups and platforms.

Universal principles

For many years, BNP Paribas actions have followed the framework of:

■ the United Nations Global Compact (Advanced level);

■ the UN Women s Empowerment Principles.

The fi nancial industry s CSR commitments

The Group actively participates in designing and implementing long-term social and environmental solutions within the framework of:

■ the Equator Principles;

■ the UNEP FI 's Principles for positive impact fi nance;

■ the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), for BNP Paribas Asset Management, BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Management, BNP Paribas Cardif and BNP Paribas Securities Services.

2018 was marked by BNP Paribas support, alongside 27 other banks for the Principles for R esponsible B anking (see Investments and financing with a positive impact, Commitment 1).

Commitments specifi c to the environment

Amongst BNP Paribas environmental commitments:

■ the Montréal Carbon Pledge;

■ the Portfolio Decarbonisation Coalition;

■ the Banking Environment Initiative (BEI) and its Soft Commodities Compact;

■ the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change;

■ the Transition Pathway Initiative;

■ the French Business Climate Pledge;

■ the Principles for Mainstreaming Climate Action within Financial Institutions;

■ the Financial Institutions Declaration of Intent on Energy Effi ciency from the EBRD and UNEP FI;

■ the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO);

■ the We Mean Business Coalition;

■ the Science Based Target initiative;

■ the Breakthrough Energy Coalition;

■ the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

In 2018, as part of the COP 24 in Katowice, BNP Paribas committed alongside 4 other banks to creating common CO2 emissions measurement standards and aligning credit portfolios with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

The Group also announced its support for act4nature, an initiative launched by the Entreprises pour l Environnement think tank to protect and restore biodiversity, alongside 64 other international companies (see Partnering with our clients for energy transition, Commitment 10).

Voluntary commitments defi ned by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas wanted to go further in several sensitive sectors by setting itself additional obligations, through:

■ the BNP Paribas commitments for the e nvironment defining the Group s strategy concerning these challenges;

■ fi nancing and investment policies in the following sectors: agriculture, palm oil, defence, nuclear energy, paper pulp, coal energy, mining and non-conventional hydrocarbons;

■ a list of excluded goods and activities such as tobacco, drift nets, the production of asbestos fi bres, products containing PCBs, or the trading of any species regulated by the CITES convention (Convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and fl ora) without the necessary authorisation;

■ monitoring and exclusion lists grouping businesses which do not meet the Group s CSR requirements;

■ a Statement of BNP Paribas on human rights ;

■ an A nti-C orruption P olicy;

■ a Charter for responsible representation with respect to the public authorities;

■ a CSR Charter for BNP Paribas suppliers.

In 2018, BNP Paribas published its Responsible Business Principles Charter stating its ambition to work with companies that share the same environmental and social standards as the Group (see Ethics of the highest standard, Commitment 2 and Duty of care: 2018 BNP Paribas vigilance plan, chapter 7.6 ).

Think tanks

BNP Paribas is also a member of several think tanks on CSR issues, including:

■ Entreprises Pour l Environnement (EpE);

■ the French Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI). Founded in 2001, the IDDRI aims to create and share ways of analysing and understanding strategic sustainable development priorities with a global outlook. Since 2016, the Group's CSR Function has had a seat on its Board of directors;

■ World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD);

■ Businesses for Human Rights (Entreprises pour les Droits de l Homme, EDH);

■ the Thun Group, an informal group representing international banks which meets to discuss the application of the United Nations guidelines on companies and human rights.