Volunteering work that is useful for both the planet and our clients
Swiss psychiatrist and balloonist Bertrand Piccard is a man of action. After completing a round-the-world flight in an aircraft running entirely on solar power in 2016, he set up the Solar Impulse Foundation, of which the BNP Paribas Group is a major sponsor.
A more sustainable world doesn’t have to cost more
The aim of this international foundation is to search the four corners of the earth and identify no fewer than 1,000 solutions able to help drive forward the transition to more sustainable energy use. These will be solutions already on, or about to be launched on, the market by major corporations or SMEs, which are both technologically feasible and economically profitable but don’t yet enjoy the recognition that they deserve.
Bertrand Piccard and his foundation are trying to remedy this by setting out the solutions on their website, with the aim of subsequently giving them the widest possible publicity through a series of international conferences, and so demonstrating to companies and decision-makers who are still hesitant that it is feasible to make the world a more sustainable place without losing money.
We at BNP Paribas Fortis are also convinced of this. This conclusion prompted us two years ago to set up a Sustainable Business Competence Centre (SBCC).
The role played by our experts
Quentin Nérincx and Jeroen Vangindertael (photo), two experts from the SBCC, have been actively assisting the Solar Impulse Foundation project for about a year. Their role is to formulate an objective, detailed opinion regarding the profitability and impact on the environment of the solutions published on the website of Bertrand Piccard’s foundation.
"Every month, the Foundation sends us one or two product files to analyse. Each solution is assessed by two different experts and if the two reports are both positive, the solution will be awarded the Foundation’s label," explains Quentin Nérincx.
Proud to be helping Bertrand Piccard to change the world
“I’m very happy to be taking part in this project and helping the Solar Impulse Foundation to change the world,” Quentin underlines. "First of all because that allows me to discover new sustainable solutions and so widen my expertise in fields such as cleantech, which are a priority for SBCC. And secondly because it enables me to provide a better service to our client companies – basically by telling them about products and initiatives which they perhaps don’t yet know about but which could help them with their energy transition."
Like to show your project on the Solar Impulse website?
Has your company developed a solution or process that is able to help accelerate the energy transition and which you would like to publicise more widely? Then send an email to one of our two experts – Quentin Nérincx or Jeroen Vangindertael – who will discuss it with you and help to assess the possibility of highlighting it on the Solar Impulse Foundation website.