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

To meet the need for hedging expressedby companies exposed to environmental risks,the Group trades on specialised energy and rawmaterials markets, as a result of which it is ableto create financial derivatives. Thanks to its activetrading in these markets, BNP Paribas is ableto provide its clients with hedging instrumentsoffering competitive conditions.Cost containmentAiming to offer the best possible servicesat the most competitive prices, cost containmentis a key success factor in the Group’s strategyof profitable growth. Efforts to limit all formsof consumption are fully in line with managementaccounting objectives, and environmentalindicators have rounded out the managementcriteria used on the Intranet of the GPG functionby its 2,500 correspondents in all Group entities.Efforts previously undertaken to reduce energyand water consumption at certain sites continuedin 2004. The process of decommissioninggenerators located in the inner suburbs of Parisalso continued apace. More stringent procedureshave been set up with regard to the useof certain types of office supplies, such as printertoner cartridges, which has a direct effect onreducing paper consumption. The Group’s surveyon measuring and analysing its CO 2 consumptionhas helped identify the principal discrepanciesamong entities and has provided a platformfor streamlining consumption.Raising employee awarenessTo ensure the success of environmental initiatives,a sense of personal responsibility for compliancein this area needs to be fostered amongGroup employees. Towards this end, the keyinternal communication channels – includingthe Intranet, the Ambitions in-house newsletteras well as conventions and other internal events– were geared towards promoting the Group’senvironmental responsibility.Particular attention was devoted to raisingenvironmental awareness within the GlobalProcurement Group (GPG), in which eachemployee’s individual objectives were redesignedto include steps contributing to sustainabledevelopment.In addition to its role in launching theEnhanced Analytics Initiative, BNP ParibasAsset Management takes an active part inthe work of the Institutional Investor Groupon Climate Change (IIGCC) on the buildingmaterials industry. This work aims to identifythose industry players that have madethe greatest strides in terms of energy efficiencyand will therefore be in a better positionto weather the introduction of CO 2 quotas,with the investment risks that they entail.Efficiency of Internal ControlThe General Inspection Unit and the SustainableDevelopment function completed in 2004the design of the Group’s audit methodologyon environmental responsibility, which makesit possible to assess qualitatively the extentto which all audited entities take up Groupenvironmental procedures and standards.The General Inspection unit is the keystoneof the entire system. Reporting directly tothe Chief Executive Officer, it enjoys completeindependence in the way it applies this auditmethodology, without limitation acrossthe entire Group.