Heckled general meetings, cash dispensers coated with fake oil, tags on the facades of agencies… BNP Paribas has been in the sights of environmental activists for months, who believe that its policy “condemns the climate”as proclaimed by a banner displayed in October 2022 on the steps of the Palais Brongniart, on the occasion of Climate Finance Day.
A milestone was reached with the court summons of the French bank for its financing of fossil fuels, on February 23. At the maneuver, the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) Our business to all, Oxfam and Friends of the Earth, who hope to lead to the holding of a trial “historical”. For many, the “bank for a changing world”, as its motto proclaims, has become the symbol of a “burning world”. Right or wrong ?
A claimed title of “leader of the energy transition”
If BNP Paribas calculates its direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at 1.65 tonnes in CO equivalent2 per year and per employee, its carbon footprint goes far beyond that. Key cogs in the economy, banks finance many companies with polluting activities.
To limit this impact, financiers can direct their funds towards carbon-free activities. BNP Paribas considers itself ahead in this field. Its managing director, Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, claims the status of “leader of the energy transition” for the BNP, which, according to him, has already “widely” hired her “Exit from the Fossil”.
Nearby Monde, the bank ensures that it finances more low-carbon than fossil energy production. At the end of September 2022, its outstanding loans linked to renewables, biofuel and nuclear were 28.2 billion, compared to 23.7 billion for oil, coal and gas. It’s better than its main American and Asian rivals, she says, referring in particular to a recent comparison by the Bloomberg agency, which places it well ahead of all the major global banks. BNP Paribas is also pleased to have supported projects such as Northvolt’s Swedish electric battery “giga-factory”, which opened at the end of 2022.
First financier of fossil fuels in Europe
Yet another reality emerges from reading Banking on Climate Chaos, a benchmark report published each year by seven NGOs. In 2022, BNP remains the European institution that supports fossil fuels the most, with 20.1 billion dollars (18.43 billion euros) in financing, up 22% over one year, according to its latest delivery. of the report, published on Thursday 13 April. Since the Paris climate agreement of 2016, the French bank has granted the major fossil fuels more than 166 billion dollars (151 billion euros), even rising to the first rank in the world of financiers of Shell or BP.
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