BNP Paribas harnesses the power of collaboration, innovation and purpose-driven investment to actively mobilise capital towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). In response to clients’ ESG needs the Bank develops innovative solutions and leverages its cross-divisional strength to pursue the common achievement of the UN SDGs and deliver impact through its partnerships.
Catalysing capital towards the SDGs
Together with the United Nations Joint Sustainable Development Goals Fund (UN Joint SDG Fund), BNP Paribas is driving private capital to catalyse action on the UN SDGs.
The ambition is to scale up strategic investments towards projects of positive environmental and social impact across the 17 Global Goals.
The UN Joint SDG Fund engages with governments, investors, multilateral and impact organisations around the world to drive capital to SDG-aligned impact funds supported by the United Nations system.
❝ We see the global level partnership with BNP Paribas as an opportunity to take what the UN does at a country level – everything from food systems to healthcare and education – and bring it to institutional investors and the retail market. With the private and public sectors aligning on these advocacy efforts, change is truly in the air. These partnerships are critical to meet the SDGs, and we are thrilled to explore this new way of working together with BNP Paribas. ❞
❝ BNP Paribas’ partnership with the Joint SDG Fund is a powerful catalyst to channel public and private capital towards delivering positive economic, environmental and social impact to the places and people that need it most. Together we can mobilise investors at scale to address the critical SDG funding gap and foster a more sustainable future. ❞
AY Young: creating SDG impact through music
To inspire further positive action on the UN SDGs, BNP Paribas is partnering with UN Young Leader for SDGs and artist AY Young, who is also an ambassador for the Joint SDG Fund.
AY Young is a musician and UN Joint SDG Fund ambassador who uses the power of renewable energy and music to support communities with clean energy access. Through the power of music, AY’s renewable energy-powered tour brings people together to take action on the SDGs.
By supporting AY Young’s Project 17 programme, a music album based on the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals, BNP Paribas is helping to mobilise action on the SDGs with key stakeholders across investors, governments, corporate leaders, and beyond into civil society to further support the UN’s engagement outreach.
❝ We are bringing the world together on a local and global level to energise action on the SDGs. Project 17 connects to youth too, because music is that universal language that connects every facet of humanity. Through this collaboration we can bring together like-minded individuals and organisations that care about sustainability, the environment, and social justice, and together we can power change. ❞
Collaboration towards UN Sustainable Development Goals: UN Joint SDG Fund, AY Young & BNP Paribas
Craig Leeson: long-standing history of change-maker partnerships
Building on BNP Paribas’ cinema platform heritage and positive impact with change-makers, the Bank has a long-standing partnership with award-winning sustainability film-maker Craig Leeson, to work together on two of the planet’s most critical crises: climate change and single-use plastics.
Craig raises global awareness on the consequences of climate change and the current biodiversity crisis. Through his documentary films ‘A plastic Ocean’ and ‘The Last Glaciers’, and engagement with decision-makers and industry leaders, Craig calls for the global community to take practical actions to tackle multiple challenges across the SDGs.
❝ Over the past decade I’ve made impact documentary films on big, critical issues that affect each and every one of us – single-use plastics, biodiversity loss and human-induced climate change. What we’ve seen with the scientists we work with on our expeditions is the scale and speed of changes in climate and the devastating effects on animal life cycles, food chains and other life support systems. For me the opportunity to contribute to the conversation that BNP Paribas is leading with businesses and organisations on a global scale about innovations and investments towards a low- carbon economy is what gives me great hope. We need to address these issues right now. ❞
Implementing action on financing the SDGs
Check out our SDGs case studies on how BNP Paribas is catalysing progress towards the UN SDGs and driving financing towards the solutions.
