What is your position with regard to the major future environmental challenges?
Dominique Lefebvre: A world climate governance is a prerequisite. This is needed, not to impose a supranational institution, but so that the different nations can work together on the guidelines for transformation. However, financial sector players must immediately show the way. Our objectives must be quantitative and qualitative, implementing the necessary tools to steer the transition, using high-performance reporting to better measure the progress and needs of our customers. At present, Amundi dedicates €22 billion in loans to environmental and social initiatives, and CACIB is No. 2 worldwide in green, social and sustainable bonds with $28 billion arranged in 2020. All Crédit Agricole Group players must mobilise their efforts to achieve the environmental and social objectives.
Philippe Brassac: The climate emergency is no longer a debate, we are all aware of it. However, it can be addressed in different ways. Today we need to generate the economic growth needed to absorb the declines in GDP observed in 2020 while reducing the production of greenhouse gas emissions. To this end, we assume our position as leader in the transition, and we commit to strive for a fair transition. This commitment guides our financing and investment choices towards projects with positive impacts for the environment, in line with the trajectory of the Paris Climate Agreement.
This is not a commitment for image, but for business. Over the last 15 years, profitability and utility have been reduced to strangely orthogonal objects: either you are profitable, or you are useful. Now we talk about “giving meaning” back to our economic model. This is the new way of expressing, in modern times, the usefulness of companies in society, their social and environmental responsibility. This has been native at Crédit Agricole, for over more than a century.
