Awards for Excellence 2018
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In sustainable finance, it is often the case that what is not financed shows a bank’s commitment to sustainability just as much as what is financed. BNP Paribas is committed to both sides of this coin and it wins the award this year for western Europe’s best bank for sustainable finance.
In 2017, for example, the bank announced it will no longer do business with companies whose principal business activity is the exploration, production, distribution, marketing or trading of oil or gas from shale or tar sands – nor is it financing any oil or gas projects in the Arctic region. It also ceased financing related to tobacco companies.
But the bank is also spearheading the financing of new areas of industry that have a sustainable future and are in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with €155 billion committed as of end 2017.
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| Laurence Pessez |
Helping to develop the entirely new market of incentive-based loans, BNP Paribas has participated in nine sustainable loans representing over €11 billion, including Danone’s €2 billion ESG-linked revolving credit facility. It is the only bank to have acted as a lead manager for every green bond sovereign issue in Europe to date. And it joined the European Investment Bank in signing a framework agreement on financing worth €150 million that has been earmarked to support sustainable maritime transport. The commitment to sustainability spans the whole bank. It is, for example, carbon neutral and is also helping its clients to transition. In asset management and retail banking, BNP Paribas managed €180 million as of end 2017 in a new product in partnership with the World Bank named ‘SDGs Everyone’ that creates and disseminates structured products linked to performance measured by the Solactive Sustainable Development Goals World Indices.
Laurence Pessez is the global head of corporate social responsibility for BNP Paribas in Paris.
