French multinational insurance firm AXA announced last week (14 October) that it will be integrating forest protection into its investment portfolio, coming under its wider push to preserve biodiversity and ecosystems. Under the latest scheme, the firm is to channel €1.5bn (£1.3bn) into sustainable forest management projects, with around £500m of this to go to reforestation initiatives in emerging economies.
The group- which already has over 60,000 hectares of forestland in its portfolio – estimates that with its latest investment, a total of 25 megatons of CO2 could be captured per annum. All of the land in its portfolio has been certified by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification.
Speaking on the announcement, AXA CEO Thomas Buberl said:
“Forests represent 80% of the Earth’s biodiversity and play an essential role in the fight against climate change. AXA has been a pioneer in the financial industry by adopting, in 2013, restrictions on unsustainable palm oil operations to protect stressed ecosystems.”
“In the face of the climate emergency, and prior to the COP26, we are proud to extend our commitments and announce new measures to fight deforestation, protect forest ecosystems, and preserve biodiversity,” he added.
The group is also to join the World Heritage Sites initiative, launched by the United Nations Principles for Sustainable Insurance and WWF to protect UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Spread over 110 countries, around half of these areas are identified as biodiversity hotspots, which also play a crucial role in natural disaster prevention. Signatories of this initiative commit to prevent insuring or investing in companies whose activities could damage or destroy these areas – such as those working to source palm oil, soy and timber.
AXA has also said the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (of which it is a founding member) will be instrumental in developing a framework to help institutions identify activities with potentially damaging impacts on biodiversity (both directly and indirectly).
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