France: BNP Paribas sued by three NGOs
BNP Paribas bank logo.
Reuters/Charles Platiau
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Friends of the Earth, Our Business to All and Oxfam criticize the French bank for "
its significant contribution to climate change
" and accuse it of not respecting the law on duty of vigilance, a law which requires multinationals to pay attention to impact of their activity on human rights and the environment.
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Objective: "The trial of a changing world", as the three associations call it in reference to the slogan of BNP Paribas.
They target the French bank for its exposure to fossil fuels.
“
BNP is the leading European financier of the development of fossil fuels
,” explains Lorette Philippot, Friends of the Earth
.
At $55 billion for fossil fuel development between 2016 and 2021, according to Banking on Climate Chaos.
Plan deemed too weak
The vigilance plan of the French multinational is also considered too weak.
"
The first measure of vigilance is to follow the scientific consensus and say
:
'we no longer need new oil and gas projects,'" says Justine Ripoll of Notre Affaire à tous.
The bank ensures that it has not directly financed new oil projects since 2016, but it supports companies that develop them.
“
This commitment only covers loans
”
Formal notice, BNP Paribas has already announced that it will reduce its credits linked to oil production by 80% by 2030. Not enough to convince the civil parties.
“
This commitment to 2030 now gives BNP Paribas the possibility of continuing to finance companies that develop new fossil energy projects,
deplores Lorette Philippot
.
Moreover, this commitment only covers loans when BNP in particular is very active in the fossil fuel sector
via
huge issues of shares or bonds on behalf of major oil companies”.
NGOs hope that the financing of new oil and gas projects will be deemed illegal.
►Also read: The major European banks continue to massively finance fossil fuels
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