BNP Paribas’ ClimateSeed partners with the IFC (World Bank) to accelerate the impact of green buildings in the fight against climate change

BNP Paribas’ ClimateSeed is one of the six accepted carbon offsets programs in IFC’s Zero Carbon Green Buildings certificate under the IFC Edge program. To certify their buildings Zero Carbon, real estate developers first reduce their buildings’ emissions through green building practices and can then offset any remaining emissions through ClimateSeed. Building developers can choose from over 30 projects available on the ClimateSeed platform by project location, type or SDGs targeted.

Until human-induced net greenhouse gas emissions are eliminated altogether, the concentration of CO2 in our atmosphere will continue to rise, making it impossible to halt global warming. Buildings and construction are responsible for 39% of all carbon emissions in the world. Carbon neutrality is a prerequisite to stabilizing global temperatures and cities will have to accelerate their efforts to be able to meet their Paris targets and even exceed them to limit warming to 1.5°C.

Designing and managing urban areas has become one of the most important development challenges of the 21st century. Globally, about 60% of the area to be urban by 2030 remains to be built. According to the UN, Cities consume over 2/3 of the world’s energy and account for more than 70% of global CO2 emissions. IFC (World Bank Group) estimates a cumulative investment opportunity of $29.4 trillion by 2030 in emerging market cities.

IFC has expanded its Edge certification program to include Zero Carbon buildings, enhancing the positive impact on the climate, where building developers reduce building emissions as much as possible through energy efficiency and sourcing renewable energy, and then offset the remaining unavoidable emissions by contributing to sustainable projects. ClimateSeed provides building developers with a variety of carbon-reduction projects to offset their unavoidable emissions. These projects have gone through a three-step due diligence process to ensure high quality. The projects have been certified by international standards such as VCS or Gold Standard, the project developers have undergone a strict banking due diligence and lastly, the projects have been reviewed and validated by a sustainability committee, comprised of industry experts. All the projects on ClimateSeed avoid or capture CO2, and also contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

About BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas is a leading bank in Europe with an international reach. It has a presence in 72 countries, with more than 202,000 employees, of which more than 154,000 in Europe. The Group has key positions in its three main activities: Domestic Markets and International Financial Services (whose retail-banking networks and financial services are covered by Retail Banking & Services) and Corporate & Institutional Banking, which serves two client franchises: corporate clients and institutional investors. The Group helps all its clients (individuals, community associations, entrepreneurs, SMEs, corporates and institutional clients) to realise their projects through solutions spanning financing, investment, savings and protection insurance.  In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the European leader in consumer lending. BNP Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail-banking model in Mediterranean countries, in Turkey, in Eastern Europe and a large network in the western part of the United States. In its Corporate & Institutional Banking and International Financial Services activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas as well as a solid and fast-growing business in Asia-Pacific.