Our economic responsibility

LuxFLAG Sustainable Investment Week 2019 - BGL BNP Paribas invites guest speakers to discuss “Investing in environmental solutions”

On 24 October, BGL BNP Paribas premises were used as a venue for one of the lectures organised as part of LuxFLAG Sustainable Investment Week 2019. 

The theme of the conversation was investing in environmental solutions.

The participants discussing this key topic were Nathalie Blanchet, Head of Sales, BNP Paribas Asset Management, Justin Winter, Portfolio Manager, Impax Asset Management and Yves Nosbusch, Chief Economist at BGL BNP Paribas.

Climate change, pollution, dwindling natural resources, demographic growth and many other issues are on course to have a profound impact on the international capital markets. Companies have no choice but to adapt to the environmental challenges ahead. Surviving and thriving in a changing world will involve identifying investment opportunities that reflect the economic changes on the horizon.

Lux Future Lab is the first start-up incubator created by a bank. Lux Future Lab is a true pioneer of innovation in Luxembourg and is an integral part of the “Startup Nation” ecosystem.

It is also a platform for training and education to drive business initiatives in Luxembourg, as well as within BGL BNP Paribas thanks to the TIZ programme, The Intrapreneur's Zone, which gives employees the chance to become intrapreneurs. 

In its five years of existence, Lux Future Lab has supported 51 projects and helped create 450 new jobs. A genuine hub for talent, Lux Future Lab now hosts 26 innovative start-ups and 120 go-getters. 

Visit the Lux Future Lab website

BGL BNP Paribas is committed to responsibly financing the economy through a lending policy and a range of socially responsible investment (SRI) products that contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Responsible finance means offering a range of investment products that combine civic engagement and financial performance:

For retail clients

• investing responsibly thanks to Socially Responsible Investments (SRI)
• encouraging social entrepreneurs who are committed to sustainable development thanks to the Label Act For Impact

For private banking clients

• offering tailored advice for philanthropic projects
• choosing the best SRI funds on the basis of extra-financial criteria that are most suited to the needs of private clients

Microfinance

• promoting the inclusion of individuals or social enterprises that are often excluded from the traditional banking system

As a bank, we finance many industries, some of which face major environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges. The BNP Paribas Group requires the ESG risks to be taken into consideration in financing and investment decisions.

This affects nine sectors: oil & gas, farming, tobacco, palm oil, coal, mining, defence, nuclear power and paper pulp. For these sectors, we have designed policies that require ESG requirements to be taken into consideration, in addition to economic performance criteria, in our financing and investment decisions.

In 2018 more than a hundred transactions were reviewed in the light of these policies by the BGL BNP Paribas CSR unit.

An ESG-based approach