Actor in the environmental transition

Aligning our portfolios on a “net zero” emissions trajectory

Our Group is committed to aligning our financing portfolios with a carbon neutrality trajectory. We are also one of the very first banking groups to have set short-, medium-, and long-term milestones for achieving this alignment.

In our new 2021-2024 strategic plan, we have identified the environmental transition as a major challenge and a growth driver. 
To limit the climate impact of our financing, investment and insurance activities, and gradually to align our portfolios on a Net Zero emissions trajectory, we are taking the following steps:

• Development of systems for measuring carbon emissions and monitoring the climate trajectory of all the Group's portfolios
• Development of our system for identifying and managing climate, physical, and transition risks to which our customers and our own activities are exposed, with a view to continuous improvement,
• Phasing out our most greenhouse gas-intensive activities through adapted sectoral policies.

Regarding its phasing-out measures, Groupe BPCE aims to align its behavior and business practices with the 2015 Paris Agreement, and to reduce progressively its exposure to thermal coal to zero by 2030 for its activities in the European Union and OECD countries, and by 2040 for its activities in the rest of the world. This timetable is aligned with the International Energy Agency's Sustainable Development Scenario-SDS.

Since May 18, 2020, Natixis has undertaken to discontinue financing shale oil and gas exploration and production projects worldwide. In addition, Natixis will no longer finance companies whose activity is more than 25% based on the exploration and production of shale oil and gas. Groupe BPCE has committed to cease financing, as of January 2022, dedicated projects and companies whose exploration and production of unconventional hydrocarbons (shale oil, shale gas, and oil sands) exceeds 25%.

Since November 2018, Natixis has published an oil & gas sector policy detailing the terms of its commitment to cease financing oil onshore or offshore exploration and production projects in the Arctic. This commitment to protect the Arctic reinforces the position taken by Ostrum and Mirova (affiliates of Natixis Investment Managers) that, since 2016, have been leading a group of investors, signatories to a statement calling for the protection of this geographical area from oil exploration activities, as well as for the respect of national commitments to fight climate change in this particularly hydrocarbon-rich part of the world.

Supporting all our customers in their environmental transition

We take action to support our customers: we heighten their awareness of climate issues; we advise them; we finance their transition projects, and we provide them with savings products or investment vehicles dedicated to the financing of green projects.

Our employees’ expertise and the creation of an ecosystem of expert partners allow us to support our customers over the long term.

Some examples of our commitments:

• Natixis Investment Managers (NIM), Groupe BPCE’s asset management arm, aims to have 100% of its 21 affiliates sign the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) by 2024.
• La Banque de la Transition énergétique, (Bank for Energy Transition) created by the Banque Populaire Auvergne Rhône Alpes, is dedicated exclusively to the energy, ecological and environmental issues of its catchment area.
• The CE ENR, debt fund, initiated by the Caisses d'Epargne and endowed with resources worth 1.5 billion euros, finances major development operations for renewable energy projects of all kinds on a national scale.
• The Banques Populaires have set themselves a target of producing 1 billion euros of green loans by 2024 for the agricultural sector and, in this way, are supporting this industry's transition to a more sustainable model.
• As an active and innovative issuer of sustainable bonds, the group has set itself the goal of organizing more than three green or social bond issues per year.
• The group is a leader in renewable energy financing thanks to the expertise of several specialized subsidiaries possessing the know-how required to structure financing tailored to the complexity of our customers' projects.
• Le Green & Sustainable Hub of Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking is a hub of expertise in green finance that advises customers on financing and investment issues with a view to facilitating their ecological and social transition.

Accelerating the reduction of our own environmental footprint

Our four priorities for action are as follows:

• Reducing the carbon footprint of our business premises (through energy renovation work, the general rollout of automation systems in branches in offices and branches, and the reduction of occupied surfaces),
• Creation of a more responsible digital environment thanks to techniques for developing more economical applications, the extension of equipment lifetimes, the improvement of data center energy efficiency, and the promotion of eco-responsible practices among all Group employees,
• Mobility, with a reduction in employee travel, particularly home-to-work travel, thanks to the development of teleworking solutions (including subsequent to the COVID health crisis), and the transformation of our fleet of vehicles,
• Even more responsible purchasing with the systematic inclusion of CSR criteria, including the carbon footprint, when drawing up specifications for tender documents provided to our suppliers.