Submitted by H. Hutton on Wed, 07/10/2015 - 14:23
9 October 2015 – The Banking Environment Initiative (BEI) welcomes its newest member, BNP Paribas, to the group of global banks working to collectively direct capital towards socially and environmentally sustainable economic development.
Acknowledging that political, economic and business strategies of the 21st century must be reshaped in response to massive changes in global demographics, resource availability and climate change, the Chief Executives of some of the world’s largest banks created the Banking Environment Initiative in 2010. The Banking Environment Initiative has developed a powerful model of change, at the heart of which lies a simple thesis that banks work for their clients and that this group can only be transformative if it truly aligns banks’ interests with those of their clients. The BEI’s model is therefore to draw on the global network of sustainability leaders, experts, and research capabilities of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership to form strategic partnerships with groups of leading corporates, investors and regulators that share the BEI’s ambitions.
Andrew Voysey, Director of Finance Sector Platforms at CISL said:
"The BEI has been pleased to work with BNP Paribas for over a year as a non-member bank that adopted the BEI's Soft Commodities Compact with the Consumer Goods Forum. Today's news signals the value that BNP Paribas has seen in what the BEI is doing, whether driving industry-level standards that accelerate the emergence of new business norms, innovating banking products and services that address unmet needs in a sustainable economy; or helping policy-makers and regulators evolve a level playing field for sustainable business models. We look forward to working with BNP Paribas more broadly across the BEI's programme."
Laurence Pessez, BNP Paribas Head of Corporate Social Responsibility said:
"BNP Paribas is convinced that financial institutions can play a predominant role in developing a sustainable economy. Setting up an ambitious strategy, we are committed to a set of policies which enable us to adapt to the changes taking place in our society while also ensuring high performance and maintaining the Group's stability. We are glad to have the opportunity to share our views and experience with other top international financial institutions and academic institutes, as we did when we joined the BEI Soft Commodities Compact group in April 2014. Today, we are pleased to announce our membership to the BEI where we can share ideas and discuss various topics related to financing a sustainable economy, beyond tackling deforestation in agricultural supply chains."
