International Day for Biodiversity: putting the agreement into action
International Day for Biological Diversity is celebrated on 22 May each year. To mark the event, let’s look at some practical actions undertaken by Societe Generale.
In December 2022, COP15 ended with the adoption of a historic agreement aiming to provide guidance for global action in favour of nature for 2030: the new Global Biodiversity Framework (also called the Biodiversity Plan). Within a context of declining nature, threatening the very survival of a million species and disrupting the daily lives of billions of people, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s goal is to stop and reverse this phenomenon.
International Day for Biodiversity 2024 is part of this momentum, and is encouraging governments, society and economic actors to put the agreement into action. And to draw up an initial assessment, countries will meet in October 2024 at COP16 in Colombia.
A decisive role to play
Financial institutions have a role to play in achieving this agreement’s goals by directing financial flows towards the preservation and restoration of nature or by supporting their clients through their transformation to virtuous models for nature. They are also invited to develop the necessary capabilities to assess the impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities associated with nature and to support innovation players.
Societe Generale takes action
Contributing to preserving biodiversity is one of the four strategic focusses of Societe Generale’s CSR ambition. The Group has thus already begun work to help reach the agreement’s goals, notably via:
- the enhancement of its sectoral policies to exclude the financing of new projects located in the principal international protected areas (UNESCO, RAMSAR, IUCN I IV, Alliance for Zero Extinction sites), as well as applying the Equator Principles regarding project financing;
- the strengthening of its policy regarding the fight against deforestation and land conversion. The Agriculture sectoral policy will be modified accordingly before the end of the year;
- the measuring and evaluation of financial impacts and risks regarding nature. Societe Generale is developing a new financial vulnerability sectoral indicator based on the evaluation of physical and transition risks associated with nature.
- the launch of a new investment fund for the transition of a billion euros, including equity investment of 700 million euros. This fund notably aims to support solutions based on nature;
- the signing of a 5-year partnership with The Ocean Cleanup, a non-profit environmental engineering organisation involved in extracting plastic pollution from our seas and rivers;
- partnerships with committed players in Nature and Biodiversity issues like Eco Tree, Regrow and 4 per 1000.