The United Nations Sustainable Goal 13:
Take Urgent Action to Combat Climate Change and Its Impacts.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) consist of 17 key commitments that strive to eradicate poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all by 2030.
Yann Arthus Bertrand has chosen this photo to represent the challenges of meeting the United Nations SDG 13.
Yann Arthus Bertrand - A dam made of sandbags on the Ganges Delta, Chittagong District, Bangladesh (22° 47’ 2,92’’ N – 91° 21’ 23,84 E).
These sandbags protect the riverbank in Bangladesh from erosion due to waves. The coastline has already receded by 150 meters due to rising sea levels from global warning. If the global temperature increase were limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius instead of 2 degrees, the sea would rise by 10 centimeters less on average, already estimated at 44 centimeters in 2100. Bangladesh is the country most vulnerable to rising sea levels.
According to the United Nations:
2017 was one of the three warmest years on record, 1.1 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial period, with rising sea levels, extreme weather conditions, and increased greenhouse gases.
175 countries have ratified the Paris Agreement at the COP21 in Paris, agreeing to work to limit global temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius.
BNP Paribas:
BNP Paribas fully contributes to achieving all 17 SDGs through a large range of actions and initiatives.
Our commitment to achieving SDG 13:
As part of its environmental commitments, BNP Paribas promotes financial innovation to help the energy transition and reinforces its management of risks related to this transition.
BNP Paribas became “Carbon neutral“:
For that, 3 complementary actions are being undertaken:
• Reducing CO2 emissions related to its functioning;
• Increasing the share of low carbon electricity;
• Offseting CO2 emissions that cannot be avoided.
In 2017, all of its 2016 emissions were offset as part of the Wild Life Works’ Kasigau project. A long-term partnership with the GoodPlanet Foundation was also signed in 2017 to set up 13,000 bio-digesters in India.
Wildlife Works : a forest preservation programme in Kenya:
Since 2010, BNP Paribas has supported Wildlife Works, a protection and restoration programme of more than 500,000 acres of forest in Kenya. The project also finances schools, water supply systems and helps the local community creating sustainable jobs.