BNPパリバにおける「サステナビリティ」- さまざまなイベントで取り組みを推進

サステナビリティをすべての行動の中心に据えるBNPパリバは、以下のような活動を通して、持続可能な未来の構築に向け歩みを進めています。

「PRI in Person Tokyo 2023 （10月3－5日）」に参加

BNPパリバは、国連が主催するPRI (Principles for Responsible Investment) in Person Tokyo 2023へ参加しました。本会には国内および国外から1,200人以上のアセットオーナー、アセットマネージャーらが参加し、サステナビリティに関するさまざまな議題について話し合いました。

• PRI in Person 2023 highlights（英語）- Principles for Responsible Investment
• PRI in Person 2023 岸田総理大臣の挨拶 – 首相官邸

「BNPパリバ サステナブル・フューチャー・フォーラム（10月6日）」を東京で開催

2016年から開催する「BNPパリバ サステナブル・フューチャー・フォーラム（SFF）」は今年8回目を迎え、世界16都市で実施されました。
10月6日に東京で開催されたフォーラムでは、GXの推進に向けた取り組みや企業の抱えるチャレンジ、機会等、ESG・サステナビリティの潮流が多角的に議論されました。
また、BNPパリバ証券 チーフESGストラテジストの中空 麻奈による講演では、サステナブル・ファイナンスのグローバルトレンドやESG投資における最新情報をお届けしました。

• BNPパリバ サステナブル・フューチャー・フォーラム（英語）- BNPパリバ ホールセール バンキング（CIB）
• BNPパリバのLinkedIn – 記事はこちら

サステナビリティに関するトピックをお届けする「PERSPECTIVES」を発行

国連 SDGsヤングリーダーズ・AY Young氏との活動

BNPパリバは、United Nations Joint SDG Fund、AY Young氏とパートナーシップを組み、人と地球が直面する重要課題への戦略的投資を拡大しています。
AY Young氏は国連 SDGsヤングリーダーズの一人として活躍するほか、「プロジェクト17」や Battery Tourを創設し、アーティストとしても活動しています。
10月の来日中は、PRI, SFFでのパフォーマンスに加え、Laurus International Schoolの子供たちに向けてエネルギーに溢れるライブパフォーマンスを通して、持続可能性についてパワフルなメッセージを発信しました。

• BNPパリバのLinkedIn – 記事はこちら
• Collaboration towards UN Sustainable Development Goals – AY Youngさんとのコラボレーション詳細（英語）- BNPパリバ ホールセールバンキング（CIB）

BNPパリバの「サステナビリティ・スナップショット」

BNPパリバのホールセール・バンキング (CIB) 部門 チーフサステナビリティオフィサーConstance Chalchatは、CIBの注目する持続可能な発展戦略について、「サステナビリティ・スナップショット」にまとめています。東京で開催されたPRI in Person 2023で発表された内容も要約されています。

What to expect from COP28: a heightened sense of urgency

At the Tokyo event, Professor Jim Skea, summarised the latest analysis from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.

Scientists found that world temperatures for September were the warmest on record, breaking previous records set in 2020. In terms of climate change scenarios, it is more likely than not that we will reach 1.5 degrees by 2030, and the physical risks associated with temperature rise are progressively materializing. These include more costly and more frequent extreme weather events, degradation of biodiversity and food systems, and threat to water availability. Overshooting two degrees is a lot worse than limiting below the 1.5 degree threshold, because the effects would most likely be irreversible, with lot of additional uncertainties.

While forceful action is needed, we haven’t seen such an unprecedented pace of transformation since the industrial revolution. We have the solutions in renewable energies, electrification of transport, forestry management and broader nature-based solutions. By collaborating across sectors and regions at COP28, it can make a difference to accelerating the implementation of transition.

US ESG backlash and the role of regulators

A number of European investors remain puzzled by the US anti-ESG sentiment but large asset owners clearly stated that it leads us to higher scrutiny when investing in US asset managers.

One noted – “Integration of ESG is an additional way of identifying risks and opportunities that can impact our returns. For us it is an evident part of our fiduciary duty… For the US-based funds that we invest with, ESG is a means to harness additional possibilities, a means to support companies in remaining relevant for their consumers and customers, let alone for mere survival in a market where behaviours, business models and availability of resources are changing.”

An industry veteran board member of a large pension fund commented, “the anti-ESG backlash is really dividing those who do the work, and those who do not, and that’s not necessarily a negative.”

A number of investors attending PRI raised the fact that regulators need to clarify the rules of the game, alongside recent comments by BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink, who stated the belief that it is regulators and not investors that should be driving the transition.

This is true for the US but also for Asia, which needs to accelerate its transition. Hiroshi Shimizu, CEO of Nippon Life, indicated pension funds, insurance firms and other investors should be prepared to accept stricter regulation in order to force them to invest more in green assets, primarily to accelerate decarbonisation

More broadly across the standards universe, last week the EU parliament voted to approve the use of a new “European Green Bond” label, the first of its find according to policy makers. The EU green bond standard is a milestone in scaling up sustainable finance and ensuring integrity across the market.

Stay tuned on these European regulatory developments by registering for our upcoming client webinar on ESG Regulation on 13 November.

Investors are crucial to supporting government action

70% of the world’s GHG emissions come from private companies, yet only 35% have net zero targets, a much lower percentage than public companies. To solve this, the role of investors is crucial. The PRI theme, “from commitment to action” was the key takeaway we left with.

Our recent BNP Paribas survey highlighted that institutional investors are now in the next stage of engagement. They have moved from the why, to the what, and we are now definitely into the how, with our survey noting:

• Fiduciary duty is about delivering risk-adjusted returns, achieved by integrating ESG into the investment decision to both manage risk and capture the opportunities of growth and value creation
• Data is crucial. However, data quality and limits in its availability are now longer seen as a justification not to act, given that ISSB-aligned disclosed data are gradually replacing estimates.
• Interconnectivity between all economic players, public-private, corporate-institutional, is key to unlocking and scaling new technologies, bolstering the clean energy value proposition; and supporting further adoption!
• Regulators and supportive policies will not do it all, but they are critical. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the US is recognised as the most impactful incentive package to boost investment so far. In Europe there has been lot of expectations around the EU scheme with frustrations on the implementation time. The APAC region is accelerating transition, as reflected by the Japan government’s Green Transformation ‘GX programme’, and the first announced Climate Transition Bond with a framework that has been agreed by the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA). These developments should be closely monitored in the months ahead, especially during COP28.
• Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged investors to step up their climate allocations. One of the country’s biggest asset owners, Nippon Life Insurance, said pension funds should brace themselves for more and stricter regulation.

Engagement remains the strongest lever, over divestment, provided it is combined with close monitoring

As a result of engagement, investors noted that companies with high emissions have improved more than without engagement. Engagement remains a key focus of all investors to drive sustainability action and protect performance: from voting to active engagement on strategy setting and governance, to sharing experience and expertise as an investor.

Engagement also includes creating working or best practice sustainability communities across portfolio companies and pushing for the right expertise at board level. Discussing board level expertise, some participants quoted how a simple but strong push to include a climate expert into some of their companies’ boards has helped embed sustainability into the business strategy.

Japan’s green transformation: a unique policy package to deliver sustainable economic growth

Japan’s Prime Minister opened the PRI by explaining how Japan expects to turn sustainability into an economic growth opportunity, through a policy package, the Green Transformation (GX) framework. This is designed to channel households’ savings to green investments, and attract international investments to drive economic development through emissions mitigation.

GX Transformation includes four priority policies to achieve 150 trillion JPY (approx. US$1 trillion) of private public investment. Four policy priorities include:

1. GX green transformation, investing in changing the industrial and social structure towards the low carbon economy, and delivering sources of growth to reach net zero by 2050; with new climate transition bonds this year. GX related investments will benefit from tax incentives for everyone to contribute. Japan will contribute to net zero with peer Asian countries, with an Asia GX consortium that aims to drive transition investment into Asia.
2. Supporting startups, with an aim to amplify investment tenfold. An environmentally friendly consortium, open to the world, aims to drive impact investment.
3. Enhancing human capital, with a strong focus on households with children, and investing in women. Listed companies will be required to disclose human capital indicators.
4. Strengthening the function of finance to contribute to sustainable outcomes, with a new plan to improve asset management and asset owners, encouraging competition, encourage innovation and harness growth potential. This approach to responsible investment will include sustainability-minded fiduciary duties.

Eminent Japanese sustainability expert Emi Onozuka shared some wisdom to close the PRI conference saying that it was time to move from a state of questioning もやもや モヤモヤ (moyamoya) to a feeling of excitement, わくわく ワクワク (wakuwaku), and embrace the opportunities opened up by the green revolution.

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