BNP Paribas AM partners with CDP to develop biodiversity reporting metrics

BNP Paribas Asset Management is funding a project to support CDP in developing a global corporate biodiversity reporting framework, it announced today.

The asset manager, which has around €483bn in assets under management, and the non-profit disclosure organisation aim to accelerate corporate environmental disclosure and boost the integration of biodiversity data into investment, business and policy decision making globally.

“The asset management industry is in urgent need of better data on biodiversity and how it is impacted by capital allocation choices,” said Robert-Alexandre Poujade, ESG analyst at BNP Paribas Asset Management. “There is unprecedented interest from financial institutions and companies to better understand how they can make biodiversity-conscious investment decisions based on reliable data and thus reward companies that are managing natural resources sustainably.” 

BNP Paribas AM is already part of a coalition with AXA Investment Management, Mirova, and Sycomore to develop a biodiversity assessment methodology and asset management tool. They have hired Paris-based environmental advisory firm I Care & Consult and data provider Iceberg Data Lab to undertake the latest phase of that work.

Alongside this latest collaboration, the asset manager has released its biodiversity roadmap, detailing its plans to embed considerations of the issue across its activities, with a particular focus on water and deforestation risks. 

A spokesperson from BNP Paribas AM told RI: “The focus on water and forest risks is linked to the availability of data and our 2019 targets. As data progresses, we will continue to expand our work, we expect to be able to publish our biodiversity footprint by the end of this year and we are continuing to research themes within biodiversity such as land occupation, seafood, plastic and soil quality.” 

The roadmap also hinted it will “continue to work to build a collaborative investor stewardship initiative to address biodiversity loss”. Last month RI reported that early-stage plans to establish a Nature 100+ were underway through the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge Foundation’s engagement working group. 

In response to whether BNP Paribas AM’s work was linked to the above, a spokesperson told RI: “Discussions with other investors regarding how to make progress on a NatureAction 100+ type of initiative are at an early stage.  It is currently too early to confirm who the right partner will be, but it is important to highlight that the willingness is there.”