BNP Paribas has received formal notice to end its financing of fossil fuels and ‘climate chaos’.

After the ‘case of the century’, the BNP Paribas case? Non-governmental organizations Notre affaires à tous and Oxfam France, which helped bring the state to justice. “climate inaction”I’m going to open it now “The Trial of the Financier of Climate Chaos”. The first stage was set on Wednesday, October 26: NGOs, joined in their approach by Friends of the Earth, officially warned the first French bank to stop supporting fossil fuel development. the world.

They are based on the law on the duty of vigilance, which obliges large French companies to identify the risks and prevent serious attacks on the environment and human rights that may result from their activities. In this case, associations criticize BNP Paribas for not using it on climate issues by financing oil and gas projects. They gave an ultimatum to the banking group: they have three months “obey the law”. If this does not happen, the associations will seize the Paris court. in order to achieve “World’s First Climate Trial” with the participation of a commercial bank. So far, states (France, Netherlands) and oil groups (Shell) have been condemned.

“BNP Paribas is responsible for the climate crisis because it finances fossil fuels. It is in the process of becoming a criminal because after the Paris Agreement [sur le climat, conclu en décembre 2015, lors de la COP21], Despite great promise, the first French bank has not yet turned off the tap, Cécile Duflo, director-general of Oxfam France and a former patron of the Greens, protests. We are confident that justice will help us end the hypocrisy that is becoming deadly. »

Why target BNP Paribas and not another bank? because he is “The first global financier of the major players in the sector”, argues Lorette Philippot, Climate and Finance Specialist at Friends of the Earth. From 2016 (after the Paris Agreement) to 2021, the group has invested more than $43 billion (€43.4 billion) in eight major European and American oil and gas companies.

“climate bombs”

No other bank in the world has invested as much during this period, according to the 2022 edition of Banking on Climate Chaos, a benchmark report led by a dozen NGOs, including Reclaim Finance. American Citi and JP Morgan Chase, which complete the podium, injected “only” $36 billion in the same period. Still for comparison, France’s Crédit Agricole and Société Générale are in ninth and tenth place, with $15 billion and $13 billion, respectively. BNP Paribas is the leading financial backer of BP and Shell and the main financial backer of six other giants: Total, Chevron, ExxonMobil, ENI, Repsol and Equinor.