PARIS (Reuters) – Crédit Agricole, France’s second-largest bank by market capitalization, announced on Thursday that it would stop financing any new fossil fuel extraction projects and that it would publish its exposure to this sector as part of its new climate goals.
This announcement follows the agreement reached at the United Nations climate conference in Dubai (COP28) between representatives of almost 200 countries, who agreed to begin reducing global consumption of fossil fuels in order to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.
Crédit Agricole said in a statement that it would triple its annual financing of renewable energy projects by 2030 to reach 3 billion euros.
The group also promises to increase the exposure of Crédit Agricole CIB, its financing and investment bank, to low-carbon energies by 80% between 2020 and 2025 to reach 13.3 billion euros in 2025.
The bank will also stop “corporate financing” for independent producers, devoted exclusively to the exploration or production of oil and gas.
“Faced with the climate emergency, we must amplify our action towards solutions that will allow society to transform,” declared Director General Philippe Brassac.
(Written by Mathieu Rosemain and Sudip Kar-Gupta, Kate Entringer, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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