La banque d'un monde qui change 2004 - BNP Paribas

118118119119sustainable developmentemployees were offered incentives to acceptshort-distance transfers that did not requiremoving to another home.As part of the Group’s long-standing commitmentto cost control, the energy consumptionof buildings appears to be tightly controlled.The main avenues for raising the Group’senvironmental efficiency will therefore involveinstalling better-performing new technology atthe time of building renovations or construction,and when equipment is up for replacement.These early computations of CO 2 emissions willbe expanded to a global scope, using moredetailed tree-structure processes that will makeit possible to reduce the margins of error thatare still high for some data.Using all available leversfor improvementWith a view to implementing the principlesof the United Nations Global Compact,the Group has adopted a set of operatingguidelines on environmental responsibility.Mitigation of environmental impactsThe Group’s real estate management departmentstake a number of measures on a daily basisthat aim to reduce the energy or raw materialsconsumption of buildings. As an example,open loop air conditioning systems are graduallybeing replaced by closed loop systems. In 2004a closed loop system was installed, despiteits higher cost, during the renovation of theheadquarters building of BICI of Burkina Faso.One avenue for mitigating environmentalimpacts can be through agreements withother stakeholders. For this reason, BNP Paribashas reached an agreement with CFC, the Frenchorganisation managing copyrights on booksand press articles, under which it is allowedto copy articles in the form of a press review thatis distributed in electronic form on the GroupIntranet. Each employee can read these articlesonline and printed copies have becomean exception.Meunier is also involved in an effort to mitigatethe impacts of its real estate activities,through the gradual implementation ofthe High Environmental Quality (HEQ) standardin most of its operations. Meunier’s businessreal estate arm maintains close links withthe HEQ association and with the Scientificand Technical Advisory Centre for the Frenchbuilding industry, and takes part in many industryforums on the issue of environmental quality.Meunier Habitat was recognised in 2004as the first developer in the Paris area to achievecertification under the “environmental housing”criteria of the HQE standard for apartmentbuildings aimed at first-time buyers,with its “Le Ténor” complex in the Westernsuburb of Courbevoie.The Nature ConservancySince 1991, Bank of the Westhas been a partner of the Californiachapter of The Nature Conservancy,a nationwide non-profit organisationwhich dedicates its resources to protectingnatural diversity by purchasing andmanaging environmentally exposed lands.Bank of the West has createda specific type of account to collectcontributions from clients as well asits own donations. These accountsgenerate service fees, which the bankthen transfers to The Nature Conservancy.This partnership has financed NatureConservancy projects throughout California,with more than USD 3.5 million collectedsince its inception.