The NEC Initiative, an independent multi-shareholder mission-driven company
As calls for urgent action on climate change and biodiversity intensify, the financial sector is seeking tools to better integrate the risks involved and measure its environmental impact. In addition, French and European regulations are becoming more structured with regard to transparency requirements concerning inclusion of environmental issues. See Article 29 of the Energy-Climate Law in France, the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) at the European level, and the Taskforce on Climate related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Taskforce on Nature related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) at the global level.
With the above in mind, and after having defined its purpose, which is “to contribute to the development of a sustainable and resilient economy, empowering investors and companies with the tools to assess their contribution to the ecological transition,” the NEC Initiative became a mission-driven company.
“Choosing to be a mission-driven company binds us and embeds in our structure the essential elements of our DNA: transparency, methodological independence, universality, collaboration, and scientific robustness.”
At the same time, The NEC Initiative welcomes three shareholders to join Sycomore Factory: OFI, SWEN Capital Partners, and Eurinvest, with the objective of building a group of players representative of the financial sector’s diversity and committed to working together towards the common goal of shaping the future of sustainable investing.
“We are very pleased to support this mission-driven company and to be a shareholder in the NEC Initiative, which we believe is a strategic way to bring together the best practices of all stakeholders. By joining forces, we will make great strides towards contributing positively to ecological transition.”
“We are particularly proud and happy today to take an equity interest in the NEC Initiative, with co-shareholders who share the same values, to enable the development of this scientific methodology that can be applied to all asset classes.”
Becoming a market standard
The first multi-issue environmental metrics, based on a scientific LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) approach, the NEC indicator is universal: it can be applied to any type of company, any type of project, any class of asset, and on a global scale.
With the goal of the NEC metrics becoming a European standard, the NEC Initiative welcomes with open arms new contributors and users: financial institutions and companies from all sectors wishing to assess their environmental impacts so they can then better manage and reduce them.
“Because it measures the alignment of companies with the ecological transition and makes it possible to track its trajectory, the NEC metrics has become, for us investors, an essential tool for supporting the transformation of companies.”
The NEC metrics already has several users or members, including Caisse des Dépôts, Groupama, Spie, Lita.co, I Care, Quantis, Deloitte, Ircantec, BNP Paribas, SWEN Capital Partners, Institut Louis Bachelier, and 2 Degrees Investing Initiative.
The NEC Initiative keeps on working closely with its historical methodological partners, I Care and Quantis.
It has also partnered with Iceberg Data Lab, an independent fintech company specializing in ESG data solutions, to market NEC scores to financial institutions over a broad range of investment universes.
Access the full version here.