Net Environmental Contribution: the holistic metric

“Managers are encouraged to explore more holistic and forward-looking indicators of environmental and climate transition, beyond GHG intensity e.g., Net Environmental Contribution (NEC), to guide their transition strategy.” – Page 15

This is the subject of the study carried out by EpE which used the NEC and the Havas impact score as metrics. Three pilots were conducted with Renault Group, BNP Paribas and the automotive sector. The aim was to compare NEC scores for sales achieved over the year with NEC scores for products featured in advertising, in order to measure if and how advertising contributes to the transition in consumption patterns.

In this report, Novethic and ADEME explains the pushy beginnings of Article 9 funds and the new borders drawn for sustainable finance by the Sustainable Financial Disclosure Regulation. NEC metric is listed as tool able to help financial actors define and measure their objective of sustainable investment for Article 9 funds.

The NEC, distinguished as the only « general E (environment) company assessment tool that has enough volume to be useful for portfolio-level assessments » and providing « global and pan-sectoral coverage».

“It is key for companies to be able to identify, measure and quantify their impacts and dependencies on biodiversity.” July 2020

The NEC is an example of best practice for such a holistic approach, considering multiple environmental impacts as well as the life cycle perspective. It is based on a scalable and open-access methodology, and uses data from objective, scientific sources.

NEC is registered in the first mapping proposition of all conventional and alternative entities having ESG data and/or methodologies. It’s offered in free access by the Institut Louis Bachelier and addresses public and private actors.

NEC metric is listed in the PBAF report presenting a state of the art of all existing tools and metrics to help financial actors measure and pilote their impacts on biodiversity.

Faced with the growing environmental and climate crisis, the world of finance has in recent years thrown itself headlong into integrating environment, social and governance (ESG) criteria.

The former Finance for Tomorrow published its rapport: Finance & Biodiversity: ”Overview of French players and international initiatives for financing biodiversity and natural capital”.