AXA publishes its 2022 Climate and Biodiversity Report

The “warming potential” of AXA’s investments improves again to 2.6°C

The climate report now includes biodiversity conservation issues

AXA has announced the publication of the 7th edition of its climate report, renamed Climate and Biodiversity Report. This report responds to legal obligations in terms of extra-financial reporting, notably the first year of implementation of the new article 29 of the French Climate Law, as well as to the voluntary approach of two initiatives in which AXA plays a leading role, the Task Force on Climaterelated Financial Disclosures and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) launched in the fall of 2021.

In this report, AXA highlights the different dimensions of its action to fight climate change and protect biodiversity: governance, strategy, risk management and quantitative indicators of the impact of its actions.

The report’s key indicator, the “global warming potential”, which measures the impact of the Group’s investments on global warming by 2050, continues to improve. In 2021, it stands at 2.6°C, down 0.1°C and below the market (2.9°C). Its calculation model was strengthened in 2020 by integrating, for example, scope 31 emissions. The report also indicates a clear improvement in the carbon footprint of AXA’s investment portfolio, with a 29% decrease in 2021 compared to 2019. Finally, the amount of green investments was established at 22.6 billion euros, close to the target of 26 billion euros in 2026. The report thus highlights the transition trajectory thus begun, but also underlines the efforts that remain to be made to accelerate it.

New this year, the report details AXA’s action to preserve biodiversity and its support for the creation of the TNFD. Today, more than 50% of the world’s economic output depends on nature. The objective of the TFND is therefore to direct financial flows towards investments in the sector that are beneficial to ecosystems and to ensure that each player integrates this risk into its activities. AXA is leading the way and reports on its first initiatives in this area, both in terms of commitment (policy to combat deforestation through its investments and insurance activities) and the experimentation of new metrics (corporate biodiversity footprint).

“AXA has been a pioneer in the fight against global warming and the protection of biodiversity. This report shows that our knowledge of these major issues has grown and that our actions are producing concrete results. The continuous decrease in the ‘warming potential’ of our investments is a very positive sign, as every tenth of a degree counts in the fight against climate change. However, it shows the extent of the efforts we must make collectively to achieve the objectives of the Paris climate agreement by 2050.” Said Thomas Buberl, CEO of AXA.