September 19, 2018: CDP today announces the introduction of a new index created by Euronext that is the first, globally, to base its selection on how companies perform on the three key environmental challenges of climate change, water security, and deforestation.
From a universe composed of the 120 largest stocks of the SBF120, the 40 with the best environmental score are selected for the new Euronext CDP Environment France EW Decrement 5% (FRENV) index.
The environmental score is the average of a company’s annual performance for its disclosures through CDP, the non-profit with the largest global environmental dataset.
With over 6300 companies disclosing in 2017, CDP’s A-F scores are the most comprehensive rating for corporate environmental performance and show investors the level to which a company actively manages its climate, water and deforestation-related risks and opportunities.
11 companies in France achieved an A for at least one program in 2017, including L’Oreal, Suez and Danone.
Euronext CDP Environment France will be exclusively licensed to Goldman Sachs, who will use the index as the underlying for structured products for sale in the interbank market in France.
The launch follows the French Financial Markets Authority’s (“AMF”) validation of a guide introducing a special status for ESG filters, which exempts them from counting as an additional mechanism for public offers in France.
Supported by a political context favourable to the development of green finance, the French regulator’s new position opens market access to new underlying instruments such as Euronext’s new index, and allows for a diversification in the products offered to French retail investors.
Laurent Babikian, Director of Investor Engagement at CDP Europe, said:
“The Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals demand that significant capital is allocated to low carbon, water-secure and deforestation-free businesses. This index – a global first in its environmental scope – marks a major milestone in delivering a selection of France’s biggest corporates who outperform the market across three critical themes of climate change, water and forests.”
Marine Abiad, Head of Distribution France at Goldman Sachs for Structured Products, said:
ESG themes are a central topic in our economy’s current development and a subject of growing concern and interest from investors. Launching the new Euronext CDP Environment France EW Decrement 5% Index demonstrates our belief in designing solutions that offer our clients the opportunity to invest in these underlying instruments through structured products.
-ENDS-
Notes to editor
For more information or for exclusive interviews, please contact:
- Joshua Snodin, CDP | Phone : +49 (0)17645910909 | Email : [email protected]
- Marine Abiad, Goldman Sachs | Phone : +33 1 42 12 12 57 | Email : [email protected]
About CDP
CDP is an international non-profit that drives companies and governments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. Voted number one climate research provider by investors and working with investors with assets of US$87 trillion, we leverage investor and buyer power to motivate companies to disclose and manage their environmental impacts. Over 6,300 companies with some 55% of global market capitalization disclosed environmental data through CDP in 2017. This is in addition to the over 500 cities and 100 states and regions who disclosed, making CDP’s platform one of the richest sources of information globally on how companies and governments are driving environmental change. CDP, formerly Carbon Disclosure Project, is a founding member of the We Mean Business Coalition. Please visit www.cdp.net or follow us @CDP to find out more.
About Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world.
Please visit http://www.goldmansachs.com