BNP Paribas Asset Management (‘BNPP AM’), together with its parent, the BNP Paribas Group, was among a small number of financial institutions that stood out for their ambitious policy, according to InflunceMap’s recent report entitled ‘An Analysis of Lobbying on EU Sustainable Finance Policy’.
The report noted BNPP AM’s calls for reform to achieve a sustainable financial system and to limit global warming to 1.5°C, as well as its consistent support for the aims of the EU's Sustainable Finance Action Plan since 2018.
InfluenceMap highlighted BNPP AM’s consistent support for key sustainable finance policies and detailed engagement on regulation, including through its representation on the European Commission’s Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance (‘TEG’), as well as its active promotion and support for policies in the media. Of particular note were BNPP AM’s support for clearer ESG investor disclosure requirements and improved regulated corporate ESG disclosure, along with promoting the Taxonomy and support for the EU Ecolabel and EU climate benchmarks.
Helena Viñes Fiestas, Global Head of Stewardship and Policy at BNPP AM, comments:
“We are very pleased that our stewardship and engagement activities have received such positive independent recognition, which is testament to the substantial progress made on climate lobbying and public policy. Constructive and positive engagement is one of our main objectives and allows us to play a key role in helping the drive towards carbon neutrality by 2050.”
As a long-term investor, BNPP AM uses stewardship to encourage companies and policy makers to improve their performance on a range of sustainability topics. This helps to better manage risk in the near- and long-term and to further enhance knowledge and understanding as investors, as well as creating positive externalities – all of which benefit clients and society at large.
InfluenceMap’s research examined intensive lobbying on European sustainable finance policy, led by industry groups representing the finance and corporate (real economy) sectors. It covered 75 financial companies belonging to 63 of the largest financial institutions in Europe, 12 finance sector industry associations and eight corporate industry associations. It drew on InfluenceMap's established methodology for assessing corporate influence on key policy areas, scoring over 2,000 evidence pieces across the 83 entities involved to derive metrics indicative of policy engagement behaviour towards sustainable finance policy.
More information about InfluenceMap’s sustainable finance policy engagement research is available here: https://influencemap.org/report/Sustainable-Finance-Policy-Engagement-ae2640f0ab05a86c3a53359b0c5a3057
