Funding granted to fossil energy producers by the major world banks increased by nearly 5.9% between 2016 and 2020, several NGOs denounced Wednesday in a study.
Read also: "Green Pact": Paris promotes the carbon tax at European borders
Despite a 9% drop in funding in 2020, caused by the drop in activity due to the Covid-19 crisis, “
the 2020 level remains higher than that of 2016, the year that followed the adoption of the Paris Agreement
”, point out the six associations, mainly of an environmental nature, at the origin of the report.
A total of $ 3,805 billion has been granted to fossil fuel producers over the past five years.
In detail, the biggest financers are the American establishments, JP Morgan, Citi, Wells Fargo and Bank of America in the lead.
BNP Paribas, Europe's largest fossil fuel financier in 2020
If the French banks come behind, they nevertheless stood out by the increase in their financing of this sector, by 19% per year on average between 2016 and 2020. In 2020, BNP Paribas increased its support by 41% on a an, becoming the largest European funder of the fossil fuel industry and the fourth in the world, say the authors of the study.
"
At the hypocrites' ball, BNP Paribas is king,
" denounced Lucie Pinson, director of Reclaim Finance who participated in the drafting of the report.
“
While joining public calls for a green recovery following the outbreak of the Covid-19 crisis, BNP Paribas also signed, away from the spotlight, unconditional multi-billion dollar checks to supermajors oil and gas
”, she underlined, deploring a“
day of shame for French finance, supposedly at the forefront of the climate
”.
BNP Paribas responded by stressing that with the Covid-19 crisis in 2020, “
all sectors of the economy needed support
”, and fossil fuels were no exception.
But "
BNP Paribas has supported the oil and gas sector less than other sectors of activity,
" argued the leading European bank.
It also indicates that it has focused “
most of its support
” on groups that have made climate commitments, even if some efforts “
may still be considered insufficient
”.
Societe Generale and Crédit Agricole also increased their funding between 2019 and 2020, by 29.7% and 65.9% respectively, according to the study.
Only Natixis reduced its financing in 2020 (-17.9%), but it still increased compared to 2016.