October 25, 2021
Insurer BNP Paribas Cardif, which joined the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance in September 2021, is strengthening its participation in efforts to combat climate change by joining the Climate Action 100+ initiative.
BNP Paribas Cardif has joined the other signatories of Climate Action 100+, who are collectively mobilizing to spur the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters to take necessary action on climate change.
The Climate Action 100+ initiative pursues engagement with companies to achieve three goals:
⦁ Implement a strong governance framework which clearly articulates board accountability and oversight of climate change risk;
⦁ Set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the Paris Agreement goal;
⦁ Provide enhanced corporate disclosure in line with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate‑related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
This initiative reflects the BNP Paribas Group’s strategy in favor of climate and BNP Paribas Cardif’s longstanding responsible investment policy. The insurer has always pursued engagement with the companies in which it invests, encouraging them to deepen integration of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria in their strategy.
BNP Paribas Cardif is a signatory of multiple decisive agreements
In joining Climate Action 100+ alongside other prominent investors, including BNP Paribas Asset Management, BNP Paribas Cardif reaffirms its commitments to fighting climate change. The insurer applies responsible management and sustainability criteria to its general fund investments and is also a signatory of several key global agreements:
⦁ The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), an independent association established by the United Nations to provide a general framework for taking ESG criteria into account in investment decisions;
⦁ The Montreal Carbon Pledge, an initiative to heighten investor awareness of global warming issues;
⦁ The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, a United Nations-convened initiative that groups international insurers and pension funds who commit to transitioning their investment portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
BNP Paribas Cardif, impact investor
BNP Paribas Cardif is a long-term investor committed to delivering both financial performance and positive impact on society and the environment. A signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment, the Montreal Carbon Pledge, the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance and Climate Action 100+, the insurer has pursued a responsible and sustainability-focused approach to management of its general fund since 2008, regularly strengthening this strategy to address climate change and responsible investment policy priorities. All directly held assets in the general fund have been evaluated against environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. BNP Paribas Cardif has also committed to increasing its impact investments: 1.2 billion euros were already invested in 2020 out of the 5 billion euros in impact investments to be made by the end of 2024 to achieve the target of 11.5 billion euros by this date.
This commitment by BNP Paribas Cardif is aligned with the priorities of the insurer’s customers, whose appetite for socially-responsible investment solutions continually increases. At the end of 2020 in France, of the 42.6 billion euros invested in unit-linked products, nearly one quarter was allocated to assets that had received a socially-responsible investment label (10.5 billion euros).
Detailed information on the CSR strategy of BNP Paribas Cardif and reporting conform to article 173 of the French law on Energy Transition and Green Growth are available on bnpparibascardif.com.