CNP Assurances has become a partner of the Nature Impact initiative launched by WWF France1 to finance sustainable conservation, restoration and management projects for forests with high biodiversity value in metropolitan France. An unprecedented coordinated effort between forestry players and the economic world.
Protecting the biodiversity of 15,000 hectares of forests in France while sequestering 400,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent over 30 years: this is the ambition of the Nature Impact initiative launched in May 2023 by WWF France, the French section of the World Wildlife Fund.
This high-potential climate and biodiversity initiative, which is demanding in its implementation and ambitious in its scale, will require a budget of €40 million over 10 years. In addition, WWF France calls on companies, local authorities and philanthropists who are already strongly committed to these issues to fund these projects collectively. It is in this context that CNP Assurances has become a partner of the Nature Impact initiative, extending the approach of La Banque Postale, which itself joined this scheme in January 2023.
In concrete terms, a budget of €200k allocated by CNP Assurances to the Nature Impact initiative will make it possible to pay, in accordance with the virtuous principle of PSEs (Payments for Ecosystem Services) set up by WWF France, forest owners (private or public), wishing to implement concrete actions that benefit the preservation of biodiversity and the fight against climate change. Projects must propose the implementation of one or more of the 10 forest practices2 that promote biodiversity and climate protection.
This support for WWF France’s Nature Impact initiative is financed by CNP Assurances’ “Carbon and Biodiversity Fund” set up for the first time in 2022. Based on an internal carbon price of €60/tCO2e, this fund finances internal projects that reduce the Group’s carbon footprint (operational buildings, employee travel, information systems) and external projects that are virtuous in terms of both CO2 sequestration and biodiversity protection and restoration. This fund covers the entire CNP Assurances Group.
CNP Assurances has committed to protecting biodiversity by signing the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge3 in 2021 and published a series of objectives for 2025 to protect biodiversity, in particular:
- Measure biodiversity of 100% of forest heritage by the end of 2025 through the use of a recognised method (Potential Biodiversity Inventory) and maintain or improve the level of biodiversity measured by this method;
- Devote 3% of the forest surface to ageing islands and natural evolution areas by the end of 2025;
- Measure the biodiversity footprint of its entire portfolio of equities and corporate bonds held directly by the end of 2023, encouraging companies to improve transparency on these issues;
- Engage with five companies every year to encourage them to adopt a strategy aligned with international biodiversity agreements by the end of 2024;
- Raise awareness among CNP Assurances employees about biodiversity issues.
Vincent Damas, Head of CSR - CNP Assurances
“We are proud to support this unprecedented initiative by WWF France to finance projects aiming to conserve or restore forests in France based on payments for ecosystem services.
As a responsible insurer and investor attentive to a just climate transition, CNP Assurances is committed to the fight against climate change and the protection of biodiversity. As the leading forest owner in France, the Group sustainably manages 57,000 hectares of forests, helping to preserve biodiversity, combat soil erosion and naturally capture more than 500,000 tonnes of CO2 each year. WWF France’s Nature Impact initiative is fully in line with the Group’s environmental strategy.”
Marie-Christine Korniloff, Director of Relations with the Economic World, WWF France
“Faced with multiple crises, the biodiversity of our forests is at risk. Solutions to protect it exist, but even today, the financial shortfall can be an obstacle to taking action for some forest owners. What if we could take advantage of what is beneficial to everyone? With Nature Impact, we want to show that a new approach is possible. We aim to connect contributing companies that want to accelerate their efforts in preserving the invaluable services rendered by nature, with forest owners, who can be on the front lines to protect them... We want to prove that savings and the protection of nature are not opposed.”
1 WWF France, Fonds mondial pour la nature France is a recognised public utility foundation, a member of the WWF “World Wild Fund For Nature” global network, one of the leading independent nature and environmental organisations in the world.
2 Living trees habitats, full naturalness, conversion to continuous high forest, large-diameter wood forest, coppicing, low impact exploitation, afforestation, reforestation, peatlands and forest ponds, riparian forests.
3 Launched in September 2020, this initiative brings together 55 financial institutions, combining €9,000bn in assets, all committed to contributing to the protection and restoration of biodiversity through their investment activities by implementing the following measures by the end of 2024:
- Collaborate and share knowledge on methodologies for measuring and setting objectives related to biodiversity
- Integrate biodiversity into responsible investment policy and shareholder dialogue
- Assess the positive and negative impacts of investments on biodiversity
- Publish science-based targets to increase positive impacts and reduce the negative impacts of investments on biodiversity
- Report annually on the level of achievement of these objectives in investment portfolios.