BPCE - 2018 Registration document
2 NON-FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE REPORT A CSR strategy aimed at incorporating sustainable development in our business lines and decision-making processes
Development of CSR assessment tools in the Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne networks The Banque Populaire network measures its commitment to its stakeholders (cooperative shareholders, directors, employees, customers and civil society) using the CSR & Cooperative Dividend. All the banks’ societal and cooperative responsibility initiatives are therefore monitored. Banque Populaire Atlantique (now Banque Populaire Grand Ouest), Banque Populaire Alsace Lorraine Champagne and Banque Populaire Rives de Paris have implemented a global CSR management approach, and their performance in this area is assessed by an external auditor. They have held LUCIE certification since 2012, 2015 and 2016 respectively. Banque Populaire Alsace Lorraine Champagne has been AFAQ 26000-certified since 2014 (this certification became the “Engagé RSE” [CSR Committed] certification in 2018). The Caisses d’Epargne also increasingly call on external assessments of their initiatives and the quality of their CSR approach. In 2014, a CSR self-assessment tool was made available to the Caisses d’Epargne by their federation to help deploy action plans in accordance with the ISO 26000 CSR standard. 8 Caisses d’Epargne have completed a self-assessment of their policy. In 2018, Caisse d’Epargne Aquitaine Poitou-Charentes obtained LUCIE certification, following the Vigeo 26000 certification it secured in 2016. As of the end of 2018, two Caisses d’Epargne held LUCIE certification, as Caisse d’Epargne Rhône Alpes obtained this certification 2017. At the same time, several Caisses d’Epargne have undertaken certification initiatives in favor of the environment (ISO 14001 and ISO 50001 in particular), gender equality, diversity and responsible supplier relations.
Helping to build new international financial standards Since 2009, international climate change negotiations and European and French policies on the energy transition have relied heavily on the role played by banks and investors to channel financing into initiatives to preserve the climate. New international standards are being prepared to structure and unify financing for green growth, manage the financial risk inherent in climate change and provide a transparent framework for communication. BPCE is actively involved in sector initiatives in France, Europe and internationally. It contributes the expertise and know-how of Group companies that are highly involved in low-carbon activities from both a financial and banking perspective, to ensure that regional banks and markets have their role to play in future financing mechanisms: at an international level, BPCE is very active in international ● standards (ISO) work on environmental finance. It defends the compatibility of financial standards models with those specific to local banks – in particular cooperative banks – and their customers. At the end of 2018, BPCE was asked to chair of the AFNOR group of finance, environment, climate and economy experts and to coordinate the future ISO 14100 environmental finance standard with China. This initiative is part of the bilateral agreements signed between France and China at the fifth High Level Economic and Financial Dialog (HED) at the end of 2017; at the European level, Natixis has joined the Technical Expert Group ● on Sustainable Finance (TEG) to build an action plan to finance sustainable growth in Europe. BPCE lobbied for a representative of the European Association of Cooperative Banks (EACB) to join the TEG to provide bank financing expertise;
BPCE also takes part in specific working groups set up by European ● banking organizations to contribute to the TEG’s work. These include the European Savings and Retail Banking Group (ESBG), the EACB, the European Banking Federation (EBF) and the French Banking Federation (FBF); at a national level, BPCE presented its climate change risk ● management approach to the ACPR (French prudential supervisory authority). This is a requirement of Article 173 of the French Energy Transition for Green Growth Act of August 17, 2015 and complies with a G20 request; the Chief Executive Officer of Mirova (Natixis), Philippe Zaouati, ● was named Chairman of Finance for Tomorrow, a financial center initiative in Paris to promote the French financial sector’s expertise in sustainable finance. Adopted in 2015 by the 193 Member States of the United Nations at the Sustainable Development Summit in New York, the SDGs form the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a set of 17 global targets aimed at combating inequality, exclusion and injustice, fighting climate change, protecting biodiversity and ending extreme poverty. Deeply aware of its role in achieving these goals, Groupe BPCE conducted a detailed analysis to identify its contribution to the SDGs. To this end, the Group: comparatively analyzed its CSR policy with the SDGs; ● established a sector benchmark and analyzed stakeholder ● expectations (particularly investors and rating agencies) regarding the SDGs. The following table presents this contribution to each SDG. Active contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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Registration document 2018
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