La Banque Postale has become the first French bank to publish a climate and nature report, in line with recommendations from the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). The report follows a commitment from La Banque Postale in September 2023 to join the early adopters of TNFD. The bank carried out a detailed analysis of its nature-related impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities, publishing a biodiversity footprint for 39% of its on- and off-balance sheet exposures. It did so by using the Global Biodiversity Score – a corporate biodiversity footprint assessment tool developed by CDC Biodiversité. The report also comes ahead of COP16 and COP29, with La Banque Postale looking to demonstrate its commitment to advancing best practice in the fight against global warming and biodiversity loss. “La Banque Postale has made strong commitments in the past, such as the validation of its decarbonisation trajectory by the SBTi [Science Based Targets initiative] or phasing out of fossil fuels by 2030,” said Chairman Stéphane Dedeyan. “This report marks a new stage in our efforts to factor environmental risks in our financial decisions … which will help us to better understand the challenges of climate change and biodiversity, and further advance market standards in sustainable finance.” The report details the bank’s actions to address climate and nature conservation issues, such as the integration of climate and nature issues at the highest level of its governance and in its risk-management framework. It also highlights specific commitments, such as the exclusion of fossil fuels from its financing and investment universe since 2021, and mentions new principles published last year for intervention in companies within sectors at risk of deforestation and ecosystem conversion – which the bank says go beyond European deforestation regulations by incorporating ecosystem conversion into its risk analysis.
