Pioneering positive impact advertising solution in partnership with JCDecaux, Airlabs and Chiltern Railways launches on United Nations World Cities Day

London, 31 October 2018 – Helping to mark United Nations World Cities Day (WCD) and its theme of ‘building sustainable and resilient cities’ and coinciding with the first WHO global conference on air pollution and health, BNP Paribas unveils today a ground-breaking green tech advertising solution that adapts traditional Out Of Home (OOH) advertising space to create four ‘Clean Air Zones’ that help tackle air pollution in Marylebone station, which is situated a stone’s throw away from BNP Paribas’ UK headquarters on Harewood Avenue.

The solution is the first of its kind to be installed in a UK train station and is the result of a partnership led by BNP Paribas with green-tech start up Airlabs, Chiltern Railways, and JCDecaux. It serves to help raise awareness of and support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (#3 Good Health & Wellbeing and #11 Sustainable Cities and Communities).

The positive impact advertising solution is powered by Airlabs’ technology that combines atmospheric chemistry and airflow engineering alongside a proprietary dual filter system combining nano-particles. This air filtration system sits within specially adapted OOH advertising units provided by JCDecaux. The result is the removal of >95% of PM2.5, PM10 and gases like NOx, SOx, CO2 and Ozone in the area immediately around the units, significantly improving air quality.

Anne Marie Verstraeten, UK Country Head, BNP Paribas said:

“BNP Paribas has integrated the UN SDGs into its business globally and as part of this is committed to developing solutions which contribute to the long-term sustainability of our cities. Where we have an opportunity to partner with our clients, start-ups and the local community to make an immediate, positive impact we should take it, and that’s just what we’ve done here. We hope that our employees, clients – many of whom use Marylebone station daily – and local community will benefit from the clean air zones.”

Satya Tripathi, UN Assistant Secretariat General, UN Environment said :

“Air pollution is a public health emergency causing seven million premature deaths annually. We therefore welcome BNP Paribas’s leadership and contribution to restoring clean air, a basic human right. Air pollution and climate change can seem insurmountable, but when the power of innovation is unleashed, and the private sector takes on its responsibility we can overcome these challenges for current and future generations.”

Philip Thomas, Co-Chief Executive Officer at JCDecaux UK said, “JCDecaux is delighted to be involved in BNP Paribas’ Clean Air Partnership alongside Airlabs and Chiltern, companies that share a commitment to sustainability, resulting in this exciting environmental initiative. This inspirational campaign delivers on three fronts – raising public awareness about the global issues of pollution, delivering cleaner air to the 14 million people visiting Marylebone station every year and providing a powerful communications’ platform for BNP Paribas. This campaign underlines the power of OOH to champion social causes and to make a difference to the travelling public.”

Sophie Power, co-founder of Airlabs said:

“The 40 official air quality monitoring stations in London only measure the air directly surrounding them. But what really matters to our health is the air that we actually breathe throughout our day – while commuting, working and at home. From our research, we know that there are air pollution hotspots across the transport network, where our clean air technology could be used to reduce exposure. However, these are not currently picked up by official monitoring stations. We need to do more to protect people in their workplace, as well as during their commute, which starts with understanding their exposure.”

Dave Penney, Managing Director of Chiltern Railways said:

“This exciting partnership with Airlabs, JCDecaux and BNP Paribas is a great opportunity for Chiltern Railways to continue to minimise our environmental impact and compliments the work we are doing to introduce hybrid trains to our network. Chiltern Railways takes seriously its role in reducing pollution and we believe this technology from Airlabs will provide a better environment for our passengers, neighbours and staff at Marylebone.”

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Press Contacts

Alexandra Umpleby alexandra.umpleby@uk.bnpparibas.com +44 (0) 207 5955 2436
Sarisher Mann sarisher.mann@uk.bnpparibas.com +44 (0) 20 7595 8150

 

BNP Paribas UK on Twitter – @BNPParibasUK

Notes to Editors

About BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas is a leading bank in Europe with an international reach. It has a presence in 73 countries, with more than 196,000 employees, including around 149,000 in Europe. The Group has key positions in its three main activities: Domestic Markets, International Financial Services (whose retail-banking networks and financial services are covered by Retail Banking & Services) and Corporate & Institutional Banking, which serves two client franchises: corporate clients and institutional investors.

In the UK, BNP Paribas employs more than 9,000 people across 10 business lines. These include Corporate & Institutional Banking, Exane BNP Paribas, Leasing Solutions, Arval, Real Estate (including Strutt & Parker acquired in September 2017), Asset Management, Cardif Pinnacle, Commercial Finance, Personal Finance and Vauxhall Finance. Around half of its employees are in Corporate & Institutional Banking, based in London, while the others are based in various offices across the country, including Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester.

About JCDecaux

JCDecaux UK is the brand-first digital media company that is bringing new opportunities for our clients and partners, delivering 1 billion digital Out-of-Home ‘viewed’ impressions in every week. As part of JCDecaux, the world’s leading Out-of-Home company, the company is developing innovative solutions to environmental challenges, integrating sustainability into the fabric of its products.

The company has worked with over 200 world-renowned designers and architects to produce street furniture and advertising products that embody the city of tomorrow. All of our products are designed and built to meet the needs of our partners, our brands and the people who interact with them daily. JCDecaux UK is committed to providing a powerful brand-first environment for clients where accountability, measurability, viewability and brand safety are paramount – and has introduced BranDO, a brand-safe charter for digital Out-of-Home.  For more information, visit jcdecaux.co.uk

About Airlabs

Airlabs is a pioneer in providing clean air to breathe in polluted cities.  Its team of atmospheric chemists, airflow engineers and sensor specialists combine to understand air pollution, clean it and deliver that clean air for people to breathe.  Airlabs’ unique nano-technology effectively removes all pollutants, including nitrogen dioxide and can be used to provide clean air zones across a city – from inside buildings to outside spaces.

The Airbubbl, Airlabs’ product which cleans the heavily polluted air inside your vehicle, launches 6th November, solving one of the key exposure risks of workers and commuters.  Previous installations in London have included clean air bus shelters supported by the Body Shop, and the first clean air retail store – the Stella McCartney store on Bond Street.

About Chiltern Railways

Chiltern Railways operates commuter and regional rail passenger services from its Central London terminus at London Marylebone to destinations in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire, as well as long-distance services to the West Midlands.  Chiltern Railways is part of the Arriva group, one of the leading providers of passenger transport in Europe. Arriva employs more than 60,000 people and delivers over 2 billion passenger journeys across 14 European countries each year.  For more information, visit chilternrailways.co.uk.

About the UN Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/

About UN World Cities Day

https://unhabitat.org/wcd/

London, New York – 4 July 2018  BNP Paribas is pleased to announce that Adrian Boehler, Global Co-Head of FX Local Markets & Commodity Derivatives BNP Paribas, has been nominated and elected Co Vice-Chair of the Global Foreign Exchange Committee (GFXC)  in addition to his existing responsibilities at BNP Paribas. The GFXC was established in 2017 to bring together central banks and the private sector in order to promote a robust, liquid, open, and appropriately transparent FX market worldwide.

The GFXC also announced the appointments of:

  • Simon Potter, Chair of the GFXC and Executive Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
  • Akira Hoshino, Co Vice Chair of the GFXC and Senior Fellow and Managing Director, Head of Global Markets Trading at MUFG Bank

Simon Potter, Executive Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Chair of the GFXC said:

“It is a true honor to have the opportunity to lead the GFXC. The GFXC made a great deal of progress in its first year, and I would like to thank my predecessors and the newly elected Co-Vice Chairs for their commitment and support. I look forward to continuing the committee’s important work in the year ahead, in ongoing close cooperation with the local foreign exchange committees as exemplified by the discussion today.”

Adrian Boehler, Global Co-Head of FXLM BNP Paribas and Vice Chair of GFXC said:

“The new leadership structure will enhance the GFXC’s outreach across diverse Market Participants in the industry. I look forward to working with Simon and Akira.”

Akira Hoshino, Senior Fellow and Managing Director, Head of Global Markets Trading at MUFG Bank and Co Vice Chair of the GFXC said:

“I am pleased to join my colleagues in promoting the adoption and integration of the Code across global FX Market Participants.”

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Notes to Editors

For the press release from the GFXC:

https://www.globalfxc.org/press/p180627.htm

For additional details on the GFXC and the FX Global Code

www.globalfxc.org

About BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas is a leading bank in Europe with an international reach. It has a presence in 74 countries, with more than 192,000 employees, including more than 146,000 in Europe. The Group has key positions in its three main activities: Domestic Markets and International Financial Services (whose retail-banking networks and financial services are covered by Retail Banking & Services) and Corporate & Institutional Banking, which serves two client franchises: corporate clients and institutional investors. The Group helps all its clients (individuals, community associations, entrepreneurs, SMEs, corporate and institutional clients) to realize their projects through solutions spanning financing, investment, savings and protection insurance. In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the European leader in consumer lending. BNP Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail-banking model in Mediterranean countries, in Turkey, in Eastern Europe and a large network in the western part of the United States. In its Corporate & Institutional Banking and International Financial Services activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas as well as a solid and fast-growing business in Asia-Pacific.