BNP Paribas recognised in Euromoney Western Europe Regional & Country Awards for Excellence
BNP Paribas has been named Western Europe’s Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility and Best...
On the 26th of April, the British NGO ShareAction released the results of its 2020 “Banking on a Low-Carbon Future” study analyzing how the 20 largest European banks are managing the risks and opportunities related to climate change.
BNP Paribas is recognised as the European bank leader by the NGO ShareAction in this study.
It is the second edition of this study, whose first release in 2017 already ranked BNP Paribas as the no.1 European bank under the same assessment.
As part of their commitment to building the movement for responsible investment and fostering better practices for the environment and people’s lives, ShareAction launched an extensive survey of the 20 largest European banks late last year. The questionnaire took into account all of the Bank’s activities worldwide, evaluating the Group based on four main topics:
ShareAction’s study provides practical value for the financial community through an in-depth assessment of European banks’ strategies to address climate change and adapted recommendations. With their findings, ShareAction also provides a comprehensive benchmark of European banks, which contains valuable information for policymakers, retail customers and investors.
BNP Paribas earns the highest overall score in this benchmark, with a score of 63.2% against an average of 39.9% for all banks studied, and thus positions itself as the European bank leader in 2020.
The Group notably obtains excellent results in two areas: its engagement and collaboration with stakeholders on climate-related issues, and the inclusion of climate-related issues within its governance and strategy.
ShareAction’s recognition confirms the relevance and the efficiency of the strategic choices made by BNP Paribas in the recent years, as they place the Group in a leading position in terms of climate strategy.
And BNP Paribas indeed pursues its current efforts to accelerate the energy transition and improve the management of climate-related risks, while also developing innovative products and services to further accelerate the energy transition. As an example, the Group’s financing towards the renewable energy sector has increased by 70% between 2016 and 2019. BNP Paribas further aims at reaching an objective of 18 Billion € in financing to companies in the renewable energy sector by 2021, and at providing 100 Million € of investments in Green-tech start-ups by the end of 2020.
Several initiatives from BNP Paribas were also credited directly by ShareAction in the study as “Leading Practice Examples,” including:
In addition to these efforts specifically geared towards the energy transition, the Group has also set itself wider goals in terms of corporate social responsibility. Among others, BNP Paribas has a wide-reaching strategy in-line with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations, allowing the Group to foster volunteering, philanthropy, gender and diversity policies, and additional sustainable finance solutions for companies and individuals. As part of this strategy, BNP Paribas has recently signed the UN Principles for Responsible Banking – aiming at embedding the best practices in terms of corporate responsibility within the banking sector – and adopted a Company Purpose.
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