{"id":15796,"date":"2021-10-14T14:58:50","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T12:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reclaimfinance.org\/site\/?p=15796"},"modified":"2023-02-08T16:08:13","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T15:08:13","slug":"french-bank-la-banque-postale-quits-oil-gas-sets-international-precedent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reclaimfinance.org\/site\/en\/2021\/10\/14\/french-bank-la-banque-postale-quits-oil-gas-sets-international-precedent\/","title":{"rendered":"French bank La Banque Postale quits oil & gas, sets international precedent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Press Release – Reclaim Finance, Friends of the Earth France, Oxfam France<\/b><\/p>\n

Paris, Thursday 14th October 2021 – La Banque Postale has today become the first bank to publish an ambitious oil and gas exit strategy, just one day after the International Energy Agency (IEA) confirmed the necessity of stopping fossil fuel expansion in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and limit global warming to 1.5\u00b0C [1]. Reclaim Finance, Friends of the Earth France and Oxfam France welcome this alignment with climate science and call on other financial players, in France and beyond, to follow suit by COP26.<\/strong> <\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

In a new policy published today [2], La Banque Postale commits to a complete exit from oil and gas, both conventional and unconventional, by 2030, a move it claims is the first of its kind worldwide. The bank also commits to immediately suspend its provision of financial services to companies contributing to oil and gas expansion through the development of new exploration, extraction and infrastructure projects in these sectors [3]. To achieve this, the bank will draw on the Global Oil and Gas Exit List, excluding the more than 900 companies featured on it [4].<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\u201cWe welcome this groundbreaking announcement from the Banque Postale, the first bank to heed the call of the scientific community and the IEA for concrete measures which leave oil and gas in the ground. With COP26 just days away, a strong signal has been sent to financial institutions in Paris and beyond. This new policy sets a precedent which must be followed by every investor, insurer and bank which claims to be serious in its climate commitments, whether to net-zero or to the Paris Agreement,\u201d <\/em>said Alix Mazounie, campaigner at Reclaim Finance<\/b><\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>

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\u201cIf every bank simply copied and pasted La Banque Postale\u2019s policy, we\u2019d have taken a big step towards a climate-safe world. Unfortunately, support to the oil and gas industry from the likes of BNP Paribas, Cr\u00e9dit Agricole and BPCE is skyrocketing. They have already nearly doubled their financing to fossil fuels since COP21 [5], and nothing at this time prevents them from continuing on this trajectory beyond COP26. The same is true for AXA which features among the 10 principal insurers of the oil and gas industry [6]: it is no longer conceivable to be the leader of the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance [7] while continuing to insure new climate-destroying projects in every corner of the world<\/em>,\u201d continues Alexandre Poidatz from Oxfam France<\/b><\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>

A profound change of course is urgently needed. Fossil fuel developers still know no limit, even in the unconventional sectors which are the most harmful to the environment and constitute the lion\u2019s share of planned hydrocarbon growth \u2013 making up 71% of petrol production growth by 2030, and 65% of gas [8].<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Lorette Philippot, campaigner at Friends of the Earth France, concludes<\/b><\/span>: \u201cDespite an ever-increasing number of grandiose claims on climate, Paris financial institutions have still not responded to the unambiguous imperative of the IEA to stop fossil fuel expansion [9]. They seem equally deaf to the appeal of finance minister Bruno Le Maire to exit unconventional hydrocarbons [10]. The government which has relentlessly trumpeted its ambition to make Paris \u2018the capital of green finance\u2019 must face up to this failure and finally resort to the regulations and sanctions needed to bring the financial sector to heel<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Press Contacts<\/span>:<\/span><\/span>
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