“The Low-Carbon Transition Group works alongside energy companies and industry players, for whom the transition is absolutely critical and who must shift their business model, as well as with the Group’s institutional clients, by supporting the development of their low-carbon activities. We are also looking to identify the next ‘green unicorn’ by helping innovative companies grow.“
We aim to work alongside a society and an economy that are transforming. After all, it is our customers - individual, corporate and institutional - who are implementing the ecological transition. Our role is to support them by directing our financial flows towards the activities that contribute to this transition. To this end, we have set up teams dedicated to supporting companies in their transition to low-carbon activities: in 2021, the Low-Carbon Transition Group (LCTG), which includes 200 dedicated professionals, for large companies, and in 2023, the Low-Carbon & Sustainable Transition, MidCaps & SMEs (LCTM) team for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-caps. Our role is to advise corporate clients so they can make progress in their own transition, and to support individual clients who wish, for example, to improve the energy performance of their homes or acquire an electric vehicle.
The progress we have made in sustainable savings is another illustration of this dynamic. At the end of 2023, for example, 90% of BNP Paribas Asset Management’s assets under management were classified as article 8 and 9 of the European Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR)(1). Likewise, we provide support for SMEs and mid-caps by advising them on the investments needed to implement their transition, offering concrete solutions, such as improving the energy consumption of their buildings and enabling the electrification of their vehicle fleets.
Reinforcing our teams’ expertise
As we too are transforming, we have created the measurement and collecting tools necessary to manage our business. We are going even further by offering our teams the opportunity to develop their skills through the Sustainability Academy. This training programme provides our 183,000 employees in 63 countries and territories with a shared knowledge on the major environmental and social challenges, and on sustainable finance. Over 86,000 people were trained in 2023. In addition to these trainings, we are integrating these topics into their HR experience and in the calculation of the variable compensation of our top managers.
Convinced that a just transition is a necessity
While the current transition creates opportunities, it also generates risks of inequality. Integrating social justice is an essential condition for success. It’s the essence of the notion of a just transition, which we’re working on to ensure that we don’t leave behind individuals without the financial capacity, expertise or information, and businesses operating in sectors that are destined to transform, adapt or even disappear.