As demonstrated by its efforts to reduce its direct impacts on the environment, finance renewable energies and promote eco-funds, environmental issues are central to the Group's business activities and contribute - directly or indirectly - to the fight against global warming.
Combating climate change
Crédit Agricole has decided to take action to protect the environment by reducing the direct environmental impacts of its activities. In order to do this, the Group carried out its first carbon footprint assessment in 2006 of its activities in the Paris region. On the basis of the results, measures have been taken to reduce the Group's greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition to these measures, Crédit Agricole S.A.'s Sustainable Development Committee has also decided to offset emissions from the Group's operations in the Paris region relating to energy usage.
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Crédit Agricole also offers commercial products for customers investing in clean or energy-efficient processes.
For example, its carbon trading offering, developed in partnership with EDF, is sold by the Regional Banks network. This product allows for carbon trading by corporate customers of the Regional Banks. It handles all volumes, with orders of less than 6,000 tonnes managed by EDF and larger orders by Calyon.
A number of Group subsidiaries also finance environmentally-friendly investments, such as Unifergie, for which this is the core business line, but also Crédit Agricole Private Equity, which in 2006 launched Capenergie, the first FCPR mutual fund dedicated to renewable energies, which currently has assets of €100 million.
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Crédit Agricole Asset Management believes that taking environmental issues into account, particularly those relating to climate change, is part of its fiduciary responsibility. Through its involvement in three international collective investor initiatives such as Responsible Investment Principles, the Carbon Disclosure Project and the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), Crédit Agricole Asset Management encourages companies to improve their practices and public authorities to adopt incentive measures.
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Lastly, some of the Group's business lines take risks relating to climate change into account in their research.
Calyon's equity brokerage subsidiary Cheuvreux has published 12 reports on the economic and financial impact of climate change. In addition, since 2006, Calyon has supported the Quantitative Finance and Sustainable Development chair at Paris Dauphine University in partnership with EDF. The purpose of this chair is to help to develop innovative solutions to help the Group's customers to address environmental challenges such as climate change.
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