Climate & Biodiversity Initiative
The research projects supported via the Climate & Biodiversity Initiative programme by BNP Paribas Foundation are selected every 3 years through a call for projects. A specific governance structure has been put in place for the projects selection process.
The Foundation is backed by a Scientific Committee made up of eminent researchers. These renowned experts are recognised by their peers and in their field of research. Their involvement means that they can bring a wealth of experience to bear on the selection of the most promising projects.
The stages of the selection process
- Application phase: a call for projects is issued to the scientific community throughout the European Economic Area (EEA)
- Evaluation and pre-selection phase by examining BNP Paribas employees and external consultants
- Drawing up of the projects shortlist by the Scientific Committee, and final decision by the BNP Paribas Foundation Executive Committee, which votes on the laureate projects
Its objective? To select research projects aimed at improving knowledge of the interactions between climate and biodiversity and their effects on our societies. It also encourages researchers to identify nature-based solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss.
Read the 2025 call for projects’ application guide, and from 21 January to 4 May 2025:
The 2022 Call for projects in figures
49
eligible projects
40
projects submitted
by universities or research centres from 11 countries in the European Economic Area
23
shortlisted projects
A call for projects involving employees, scientific experts and members of the BNP Paribas Foundation Executive Committee
For the 2022 edition, 98 BNP Paribas employees from 11 entities and 3 countries – backed up by 3 specialist external consultants – received specific training to enable them to examine the applications that met the eligibility criteria.
During the first evaluation stage, an application is evaluated an average of 4 times, and receives a weighted score based on a number of assessment criteria: scientific merit of the project, capacity for dissemination and exploitation, international scale, diversity of profiles in the research team, impact of the funding on the project, etc.
In the second stage of the selection process, the Scientific Committee examines the shortlisted applications. These experts and scientists in the fields of climate change and biodiversity will make the final selection, which will then be voted on by the BNP Paribas Foundation Executive Committee. This Executive Committee is made up of members of the BNP Paribas Group Executive Committee and external experts.
Membres of the 2025-2027 Scientific Committee
- Franck Courchamp – Director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in the Systematic Ecology and Evolution Laboratory (ESE-CNRS/University Paris-Saclay), 2014 laureate of the “Climate & Biodiversity Initiative”
- Philippe Cury – Emeritus Senior scientist in marine ecology at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD)
- Bruno David – former President (CEO) of the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, and former Director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)
- Cécile Fauvelot – Research Director at the French National Institute of Sustainable Development (IRD) in molecular ecology, marine ecology and population genetics
- Frauke Fischer – Director of the department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology at the University of Würzberg (Universität Würzburg)
- Marina Levy – Research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Ocean advisor at the French National Research Institute of Sustainable Development (IRD)
- Yunne Shin – Research Director in marine ecology at the French National Research Institute of Sustainable Development (IRD)
- Jean-Pascal van Ypersele – Professor of physics, climatologist and co-director of the environmental management Master’s programme at the Catholic University of Louvain, and member of the Earth and Climate Research Centre
Former members of the Scientific Committee
- Philippe Gillet – Geophysicist, geologist and professor, Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne
- Corinne Le Quéré : Professor of Climate Change Science and Policy at the University of East Anglia, Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
- Sonia Seneviratne : Professor, Institute of Atmosphere and Climate Sciences, ETH Zurich
- Joanna Haigh : Eremitus Professor of Atmospheric Physics at Imperial College in London, co-director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and Environment
- Thomas Stocker : Professor of climate and environmental physics at Berne University, where he chairs the Climate and Environmental Physics Department
- Riccardo Valentini : Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of Tuscia, Italy
These research projects are not just an intellectual exercise, they are also a responsible approach. The projects selected must align with citizens’ expectations. They must also open the door to solutions and political decisions. – Philippe Gillet
The laureate projects
The latest news