BNP Paribas AM Launches Paris-Aligned Biodiversity ETF
BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) announced today the launch the BNP Paribas Easy ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. Eurozone Biodiversity Leaders PAB UCITS ETF, a new fund aimed at providing investors with reduced potential impact on biodiversity.
The ETF tracks the Euronext Biodiversity Leaders PAB index, which consists of approximately 60 stocks from the Euronext Eurozone 300 Index, chosen according to their potential impact on biodiversity according to Iceberg Data Lab’s ‘Corporate Biodiversity Footprint’ score. The index also excludes companies subject to UNGC controversies and those in sectors including controversial weapons, coal mining, uranium, shale gas, or tobacco production.
As a Paris-aligned benchmark (PAB), the index must also meet a set of criteria under EU rules, including a minimum reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity of at least 50% compared to the market index, with annual GHG emissions intensity reductions of at least 7%, among others.
Stéphane Boujnah, Chairman of the Management Board of Euronext, said:
“We are proud of this new collaboration with BNP Paribas Asset Management, through which we further confirm our ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. strategy and leadership, and enable investors to finance high-impact projects and companies. Euronext welcomes the launch of this fund replicating the Euronext Biodiversity Leaders PAB index, which aims to track a diversified portfolio of Eurozone companies while taking into account their biodiversity footprint and being aligned with the Paris Agreement.”
BNP Paribas stated that the new fund is being launched amidst growing interest by investors in United Nations SDG 15, that aims to ‘Protect, restore and promote the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems.’
Denis Panel, Head of Multi-Asset, Quantitative & Solutions (‘MAQS’) at BNPP AM, said:
“A quarter of the planet’s species are in danger of disappearing by 2050, and half of the world’s GDP is threatened by the progressive degradation of nature. This new ETF offers clients the opportunity to invest in companies whose potential impact on biodiversity is lower than that of their peers, while adhering to strict requirements regarding the exclusion of fossil fuels and reducing carbon intensity.”
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