The Postal Bank announced on Thursday that it is committed to phasing out fossil fuels by 2030. This is a “major step in its low carbon strategy,” said the banking establishment in a press release. Press.

"The Postal Bank is [...] the first bank in the world to commit to a total exit from the oil and gas sectors by 2030", continues the bank, thus advancing by ten years its objective of an exit from the gas and oil.

The total amount of investments and financing of the company represents 500 million euros for coal and 700 million euros for oil and gas.

La Banque Postale is stepping up its decarbonisation strategy:



🌱 1st French bank and one of the 1st in the world to have a decarbonisation trajectory validated by @ScienceTargets


⚡ Total exit from the fossil fuels sector by 2030 # Fair Transition #BanqueCitoyenne pic .twitter.com / W7ZkXuPhzf

- La Banque Postale (@LaBanquePostale) October 14, 2021

Shale gas and deep water drilling

The Postal Bank will change its policy towards companies producing oil or gas or building infrastructure in these sectors.

It will stop financing energy projects based on oil or gas, provide financial services to certain companies and will gradually divest itself from these projects.

For coal, this development is already underway.

"If [companies] are not committed to a transition plan that is credible, we will not support them," said Philippe Heim, chairman of the board of La Banque Postale.

This departure from fossil fuels also concerns “unconventional” gas and oil with specific exploitation techniques (shale oil and gas, drilling in deep waters and in arctic zones).

A "responsible bank"

This decarbonisation trajectory has been validated by the scientific initiative “Science Based Targets” (SBTi), led by four global organizations including the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

The Postal Bank is the first French bank to have a decarbonisation trajectory validated by the SBTi, she said.

"This theme of responsible banking is for us a strong positioning argument, also for our employer brand," added Philippe Heim.

“Employees come to us precisely because there is an answer to their request for meaning.

The Postal Bank had already committed to carbon neutrality by 2040 and to the definitive phase-out of thermal coal by 2030.

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