The Crédit Agricole bank announced that it was strengthening its environmental policy on Thursday, December 14, the day after the agreement reached by the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) on the climate in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. The bank commits to no longer directly financing new fossil fuel extraction projects, as well as reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by oil and gas financed projects by 75% by to 2030.
“We decide (…) to cease all financing of new fossil fuel extraction projects and to adopt a selective approach in supporting energy companies registered in this transition”, detailed Philippe Brassac, the general director of the banking group , one of the main ones in France and Europe, in a press release announcing the update of its climate policy.
In detail, the group is committed to a “reduction in financed emissions of 75% in the oil and gas sector by 2030 (vs 2020) compared to 30% announced in 2022”, it is specified in its new policy. climatic. This will “result in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from this sector twice as fast as the Net Zero [by] 2050 scenario published by the International Energy Agency,” assures Mr. Brassac.
A bank heavily involved in “carbon bombs”
Crédit Agricole's announcements, like those of BNP Paribas (in May) or Société Générale (in September), however present several significant pitfalls: the majority of financing granted by banks to energy companies is not directly allocated to specific projects . This is essentially corporate financing, that is to say financing the general activity of the company. Thus, only 2.5% of Crédit Agricole financing for the fossil sector went directly to projects in 2022, according to the specialized non-governmental organization (NGO) Reclaim Finance.
To date, major Western banks remain heavily involved in numerous projects that emit significant greenhouse gases. A recent Le Monde survey showed that Crédit Agricole was ranked seventh among establishments supporting “carbon bomb” operators, the oil, gas and coal extraction sites that emit the most CO2.
Furthermore, when Crédit Agricole communicates on quantified objectives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, this does not include all of its activities. Thus, the bank continues to assist energy companies involved in new fossil fuel projects on several levels, in particular by helping them to finance themselves on the markets. Crédit Agricole, for example, participated in 16% of bond issues by expanding oil and gas companies in 2022, according to figures compiled by Le Monde. The new announcements from Crédit Agricole do not include any specific commitment in this area.
Strengthened support for renewable energies
Crédit Agricole also committed on Thursday to tripling “annual financing in France” on “renewable energies between 2020 and 2030”. A commitment in line with the Dubai agreement signed the day before, which calls for “tripling the capacity of renewable energies globally” by 2030. The bank also unveiled climate objectives for five new sectors: transport maritime, aviation, steel, residential real estate and agriculture.
Often criticized by NGOs for their support of fossil fuels, banks regularly update their policies limiting their impact on global warming.
Several banks took advantage of COP28 to do so: BNP Paribas announced on November 23 that it would no longer finance metallurgical coal, intended mainly for the steel industry, and Société Générale clarified a few days earlier the commitments made in September, adding a section on the decarbonization of the commercial real estate sector.
