2023-11-01 09:15:46
LÉA GIRARDOT / “THE WORLD”
On the flip side, the four major French banks are fully invested in the fight to save the climate: they have all publicly committed has “finance a carbon neutral world by 2050”. On the other hand, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Société Générale and BPCE/Natixis contributed in 2022 to financing around ten companies operating carbon bombs, these oil, gas and coal extraction sites that emit super CO2.
This paradox is highlighted by the data compiled by the NGOs Eclaircies and Data for Good as part of the survey CarbonBombs.orgwhich make it possible for the first time to link these carbon bombs to the companies that develop them and the banks that support them.
The banking market is such that banks very rarely finance fossil extraction projects directly. They prefer to grant loans to extractive companies like TotalEnergies or BP, which then use the funds as they see fit. Although indirect, this financing says corporate is essential for making carbon bombs work. “If we cannot establish a direct causal link, it is very likely that funds lent in 2022 contributed to the operation of carbon bombs in operation or to the development of future projects”observes Lucie Pinson, director of the NGO Reclaim Finance.
BNP Paribas ranked 5th in the world
The role of French establishments in this economy is central. In 2022, they were the third largest indirect financiers of carbon bombs, behind the Americans and the Chinese, according to data from the report “ Banking on Climate Chaos », established from Bloomberg.
BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Société Générale and BPCE/Natixis have granted nearly $18 billion (€17 billion) in 2022 to 11 large fossil extraction companies, which can be linked to 51 distinct carbon bombs. The coal, oil and gas reserves of these sites, spread across 18 countries across the globe, are likely to release 189 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent into the atmosphere.
In the ranking established by CarbonBombs.org, BNP Paribas is in fifth place in the world, behind four Chinese and American behemoths. In 2022, the group paid more than $7 billion to 10 separate fossil operators, which can be linked to 46 carbon bombs. Among them, the French multinational TotalEnergies, the Saudi giant Saudi Aramco, the Italian energy company Eni and the British oil company BP; but also lesser-known companies, such as YPF or Pertamina Persero, involved in the exploitation of the vast Vaca Muerta shale gas complex in Argentina, which arouses strong opposition from local Mapuche Indian communities.
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