BNP Paribas Launches Fundação BNP Paribas in Portugal

• With a 40-year success story in Portugal, the creation of the Foundation stems from the will to give back to a country that has contributed so much to the BNP Paribas Group and is now one of its strategic locations.
• The Foundation reinforces the Group’s commitment to the sustainable and inclusive development of Portuguese society, consolidating all philanthropic activities in Portugal under a single, unified vision.
• The Foundation’s motto is “We give power to those who take action!”, embracing networking as its preferred working method and promoting collaboration among all stakeholders, with a view to achieving systemic change in the areas in which it operates.
• Three strategic areas: Solidarity (inclusion through employment), Environment and Biodiversity (restoration and conservation of marine ecosystems), and Culture (access to culture and support for underrepresented artists).
• The investment in the year of launch includes €1.5 million for study and research projects on the impact of climate change on ocean warming and its consequences for marine species living in the Atlantic Ocean.

BNP Paribas announces the launch of the Fundação BNP Paribas Portugal, the 14^th Foundation of the BNP Paribas Group worldwide, with the aim of reinforcing the Group’s commitment to the sustainable and inclusive development of Portuguese society. The Foundation was created to respond to the country’s most pressing social, environmental, and cultural challenges, consolidating all the Group’s philanthropic activity in Portugal under a single vision, in the year in which BNP Paribas celebrates 40 years of activity in Portugal.

At the time of its launch, the Foundation is investing €1.5 million, directly allocated by the parent Foundation under the Climate & Biodiversity Initiative, which supports scientists studying the impact of climate change on marine biodiversity, in two Portuguese winning projects (out of 163 submitted worldwide) — a clear demonstration of the quality of work being developed in this field in the country:

• Gulf of Guinea: Migration of the Pelagic Marine Megafauna (OCEANPATH)

This project aims to establish a protected offshore marine migration corridor between Cape Verde and the Gulf of Guinea for blue sharks, mako sharks and whales. Using innovative monitoring technologies and 3D mapping, OCEANPATH seeks to improve predictions of migratory patterns and contribute to large-scale marine conservation.

• Temperature and Early Development of the small-spotted catshark (SHOW-IT)

Conducted in controlled aquarium conditions, this project studies the effects of ocean warming on the early immune and motor development of small-spotted catshark, comparing Atlantic and Mediterranean populations. Its findings will help inform the design of future marine protected areas.

“Acting for the common good to make the world better, more just, and more sustainable is embedded in the DNA of our patronage actions A major player in corporate patronage since 1984, the BNP Paribas Group has a strong presence in the global philanthropy landscape. Providing innovative solutions, protecting, repairing, inspiring, and upholding these ambitions, particularly with the vibrant forces that make up the BNP Paribas Group teams in Portugal, is essential.”

Anne Pointet, Head of Company Engagement for Group BNP Paribas.

“In a fractured and divided world, seeing the emergence of a new foundation in Portugal with the desire to innovate and support visionary actors in solidarity, the environment, and culture is excellent news. It reinforces a coalition now composed of 14 foundations and endowment funds of the BNP Paribas Group.”

Isabelle Giordano, Head of BNP Paribas Group Philanthropy.

With a 40-year history of success in Portugal, the creation of the Foundation reflects the will to give back to a country that has given so much to the BNP Paribas Group, and which is now one of its strategic locations. For several years, the BNP Paribas Group has defined its ambition as having a positive impact on society (“We are serving our customers and the world we live in”), contributing to sustainable development (using the 17 SDGs defined by the United Nations), through an ambitious social responsibility strategy with a strong philanthropic pillar. A company of BNP Paribas’s current scale in Portugal has the capacity to raise awareness and mobilize other companies and organizations—whether partners or clients—as well as, very effectively, its employees, now numbering more than 9,000, in collaborative work capable of generating real change. The Foundation aims to continue working closely with communities, side by side with those on the ground, supporting projects that create real and lasting impact, thereby deepening the bond that already exists.

“We believe in the power of collaborative work and coalition-building to achieve systemic change in our society and our planet. That is why we have adopted the motto for the BNP Paribas Portugal Foundation: We give power to those who take action! We will support innovative, challenging, well-founded projects capable of producing measurable impact in their areas of activity. For this reason, we are committed to and will invite employees, clients, partners, universities, and other organizations that share our vision — the development of a more inclusive and sustainable society — to join us in long-term investment in the areas and beneficiaries we have identified as priorities.”

Luciana Peres, President of BNP Paribas Fundação Portugal

An integrated approach to a more inclusive and sustainable society

The activities of the Fundação BNP Paribas Portugal are structured around three strategic areas:

1. Social, focused on social inclusion through increased employability, particularly among young people, women, and migrants in vulnerable situations;
2. Environment and Biodiversity, aiming to contribute to increased research capacity and the identification of scalable solutions for the conservation and restoration of marine biodiversity, with a focus on the Atlantic Ocean; and
3. Culture, committed to increasing access to cultural activities for those who usually do not have that opportunity, and to supporting artists from underrepresented groups in revitalizing Portuguese artistic expressions.

These three pillars will guide the Foundation’s activities and reflect its commitment to contributing to a more inclusive, sustainable, and participatory society.

The Foundation will work side by side with associations, institutions and other partners, strengthening the impact of supported projects through the sharing of knowledge, experience, collaborative networks, and the mobilization of the most appropriate resources for the success of each initiative. BNP Paribas employees will be invited to participate, reinforcing their commitment to the Bank’s social responsibility, as well as their role as citizens engaged in the world in which they live.

With a strategy aligned with the BNP Paribas Foundation, its parent foundation, the strategy of the BNP Paribas Portugal Foundation for the 2026–2028 period will greatly benefit from the experience accumulated in Portugal by BNP Paribas’s corporate social responsibility area, particularly in the field of social inclusion, now complemented by projects in the conservation and restoration of marine biodiversity and by the participation in and revitalization of artistic expressions of cultural identity.