Nature
“Nature” encompasses biodiversity, water, pollution, as well as resources and circular economy.
These issues are closely interconnected: preserving biodiversity and managing natural resources rationally contribute to ecosystems’ resilience, on which human life and economic activity depend.
The rapid global decline of biodiversity and the depletion of natural resources threaten the ability of ecosystems to fully perform their essential functions. The Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted in December 2022 following COP15 on Biodiversity, aims to halt and reverse this phenomenon.
Societe Generale’s approach
In this context, Societe Generale is gradually structuring its “nature” approach around the following pillars.
Mitigating the risks of negative impacts on nature
The Group developed a framework to prevent and mitigate the risks of negative impacts of its financing activities. This framework notably relies on sector policies containing criteria related to nature preservation, particularly regarding protected and key biodiversity areas.
Learn more: Group’s Environmental and Social General Principles (page 7 – Appendix 1: Societe Generale Group’s statement on biodiversity.)
The Group also works on measuring the nature-related impacts of its loan portfolio, gradually strengthening its methodology through more focused analyses (see below).
Supporting clients and projects benefitting nature
The Group integrates nature into its dialogue with clients, with the objective of supporting them on these emerging issues.
Moreover, the Group is strengthening its expertise in “Nature-based Solutions”, an area of growing interest for its clients.
The insurance activities of the Group and the asset management activities of Societe Generale Private Banking continue their work on nature-related issues, notably through their contribution to the working groups of the Finance for Biodiversity initiative and their participation in collective initiatives such as the Fonds Objectif Biodiversité and Nature Action 100.
In addition, the Group supports environmental initiatives that benefit nature. For example, Societe Generale provided financial support to projects certified under the Label Bas Carbone (LBC) in France. Also, The Societe Generale Corporate Foundation is the leading patron partner of Terres d’Eau, the first foundation dedicated to the protection of rivers, canals, and waterways in France.
Assessing the nature-related risks
Societe Generale is progressively integrating nature-related factors into its risk management framework, by expanding and adapting processes and tools initially developed for climate-related risks.
In this context, the Group has developed a financial vulnerability indicator based on the assessment of nature-related physical and transition risks (notably using the ENCORE tool – Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure), across sectors and geographies.
Better understanding clients’ impacts on nature – a continuous improvement approach
First, the Group mapped financed sectors according to the severity of their nature-related impacts and dependencies, based on the ENCORE (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities Risks and Exposure) methodology.
Following this analysis, Societe Generale conducted a pilot project with Quantis on the power utilities sector to strengthen its methodology for measuring clients’ impacts on nature, drawing on the LEAP approach (Locate, Evaluate, Assess and Prepare) (see report below).
Integration into the Group’s E&S governance
The Group integrated nature-related issues into its framework for preventing and mitigating environmental and social risks of negative impacts arising from financing activities.
Learn more: Group’s Environmental and Social General Principles (page 7 – Appendix 1: Societe Generale Group’s statement on biodiversity.)
A collective approach to nature
Societe Generale’s actions towards nature are part of a collective approach: the Bank supports its clients in their transformations and works with stakeholders to make collective progress.
The Group thus participates in numerous initiatives and working groups (Group’s Environmental and Social General Principles [page 7 – Appendix 1: Societe Generale Group’s statement on biodiversity]), including Act4Nature International, which encourages companies to take action in favor of nature (see below).
Internal training and awareness initiatives on nature-related issues
To advance the consideration of nature-related issues, the Group implements internal training programs, along with awareness-raising initiatives targeting stakeholders.
For instance, Societe Generale offers its employees awareness conferences with experts, organizes events bringing together companies, clients, and partners (such as those held by the French Retail Bank in 2025 on water and oceans), and contributes to publications and reports (Contributing to ocean preservation).
Focus on Act4Nature International
Since 2018, the Group has been a member of the Act4Nature international initiative, supporting a continuous improvement approach. This participation helped raise awareness across business lines and implement an action plan based on measurable objectives.
For 2026–2028, Societe Generale is renewing its participation in Act4Nature with an updated roadmap. This roadmap combines strengthened existing objectives with new ones, aiming at better integrating nature-related issues into decision-making processes and into dialogue with clients