ON THE JDD
On the eve of the "Climate finance day", are French banks playing their part in the ecological transition towards a low carbon economy? In the columns of the Sunday Diary , Frédéric Oudea, president of Societe Generale and the French Banking Federation, assures that in the area of green finance, "French banks are at the forefront".
"Banks are scrambling to participate in green finance," says Frederic Oudea, according to which these institutions finance renewable energy. But, he admits, "the problems of storage of electricity produced are not resolved". Moreover, in some developing countries, "it is less easy to support these projects (...) because of country risk".
In green finance, "French banks are at the forefront," says the banker, recalling that "four of them are in the top 10 of the world ranking". "The sum of the outstanding six largest in the renewable has reached more than 37 billion euros in 2018, up 41% in two years," he said. "Our banks are the most active in the world and they are all speeding up in this area."
"A sudden change is not possible"
However, believes Frédéric Oudea, "a sudden changeover to a completely green finance" is not possible. Thus, on the ban on banks to finance coal, the banker explains that "we no longer finance more new projects of mines and thermal power plants". But, he adds, "we can not leave our customers immediately behind." However, says the president of the French Banking Federation, "we warn them that from a certain date, if they do not evolve, we will stop funding them".
Regarding a timetable for the exit of coal, French banks "will make known by mid-2020 their trajectory of coal output, and this on a global scale", announces Frédéric Oudea. "We will have to get out by 2030 in the countries of the European Union and the OECD, and by 2040 in the other countries".