Paris - Under the auspices of the United Nations, some sixty experts from around the world will gather at the Paris headquarters of Caisse des Dépôts on April 5 and 6, 2005 to begin work on the development of a set of Global Principles for Responsible Investment. Intended to serve as common ground for the international community of institutional investors, the principles will be formally presented in 2006 in New York City. The first of its type, this common framework is intended to help institutional investors better take social and environmental responsibility criteria into account in investment strategy and, in so doing, promote sustainable development objectives around the world.

Caisse des Dépôts joins forces with the United Nations

At the behest of the United Nations, with joint support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Compact (UN Principles of Corporate Citizenship), this working group was formed in response to growing awareness on the part of institutional investors of the impact of environmental, social and corporate governance issues on investment performance and security. Francis Mayer, CEO of Caisse des Dépôts, which has joined the Global Compact, was receptive to the proposal put forth by Klaus Töepfer, UNEP's Executive Director. Caisse des Dépôts thus joins forces on this project with a number of pension funds, insurers and other global institutional investors.

The key role of institutional investors in promoting sustainable development

The work of this group of international experts will lead to the elaboration of principles and an implementation guide for investors as well as regulators. This responsible investment framework, built on the basis of best practices from around the world, will serve as a useful guide for institutional portfolio management.

France's principal long-term institutional investor, Caisse des Dépôts intends to make a significant contribution to this project, inscribing its own policies and procedures, which are already being developed, within a recognized and accepted international process for elaborating new international standards.

Caisse des Dé©pé´ts

Caisse des Dé©pé´ts

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