More and more companies see opportunities in the ‘mandatory’ transformation to a carbon-free economy. To assist those companies, BNP Paribas Fortis already offers a targeted “green” offer. With its renewable energy financing, green bonds, sustainable loans and green hedging, the bank has a growing range of sustainable financing options for its corporate clients.
Partnership with Climact
BNP Paribas Fortis now wants to go a step further in helping its customers. That is why the bank has entered into a partnership with Climact, a Belgian company that has been helping companies, public authorities and other organisations in their transition to greater sustainability since 2007. BNP Paribas Fortis’ company clients who so wish can call on Climact to analyse their climate footprint. The expert then develops a strategy to reduce it and proposes concrete, workable solutions. These can be quick wins or the development of a long-term policy.
The services of Climact are a perfect complement to the advice given by the Sustainable Business Competence Centre of BNP Paribas Fortis. The latter informs clients about important sustainability trends, tests the financial feasibility of specific projects and thinks, together with the client, about the evolution of the business model. Climact provides strategic advice and makes detailed technical calculations of the climate footprint, and on this basis draws up a decarbonisation strategy for the company.
Didier Beauvois, Head of Corporate Banking at BNP Paribas Fortis: “The partnership with Climact is perfectly in line with the efforts that BNP Paribas Fortis has been making for several years to support its corporate clients in the area of sustainability. We see companies increasingly recognise the importance and the opportunities of the ecological transition. The complementarity between Climact’s specialised team and BNP Paribas Fortis services will allow companies to make their activities more sustainable.”
Climact’s mission is to enable their clients to take action against climate change, with a view towards a zero-emission society by 2050. The company is completely independent and measures its success against three pillars: the achievement of this mission and the associated interim targets, the development and satisfaction of its team of employees, and its financial sustainability.
Hugues de Meulemeester, co-founding partner at Climact: “We are very pleased to enter into this strategic partnership with BNP Paribas Fortis to support its corporate clients on this journey. BNP Paribas Fortis is committed to sustainability in various fields and reducing the climate impact of its clients’ activities is one of their top priorities. We are excited about the leverage this partnership will generate for real climate action and look forward to making it a success for BNP Paribas Fortis’ corporate clients.”
Through training, BNP Paribas Fortis account managers will be given a solid foundation in the effects of climate change, the need for emission reductions and the associated risks and opportunities.
With this knowledge, relationship managers will then talk to their corporate clients about their energy transition, after which an introduction to Climact itself is possible. If the client is convinced, an agreement is concluded with Climact without the intervention of BNP Paribas Fortis. BNP Paribas Fortis remains a partner to its clients and will gladly support them in the elaboration of the proposed sustainability solutions.
