L'art de noyer le poisson : nous répondons au lobby des banques françaises

The document rebuts the Fédération bancaire française's (FBF) assertions that French banks are prioritizing the climate transition. It argues that despite Net-Zero commitments, French banks provided over $350 billion to fossil fuels between 2016 and 2021 and continue to fund companies expanding fossil fuel production, contrary to IEA recommendations for a 1.5°C pathway.

• French banks provided more than $350 billion in financing to fossil fuels between 2016 and 2021, the period following the adoption of the Paris Agreement. In 2021, financial flows from these banks were slightly higher than the volumes recorded in 2016.
• Since 2016, French banks have allocated $130 billion to the 100 companies most active in developing new fossil fuel projects, including oil and gas majors. This contradicts International Energy Agency (IEA) Net-Zero scenarios which require an end to the development of new oil and gas fields beyond those approved in 2021.
• The analysis of European oil majors' climate plans indicates that they are developing new hydrocarbon projects and have insufficient short- and medium-term decarbonization goals. For TotalEnergies, hydrocarbon production is projected to increase by over 40% by 2030 compared to 2015, with renewables making up less than 20% of its energy mix.
• Current exclusion policies by French banks are criticized for being insufficient because they focus on project financing rather than the companies themselves. Since 90% of fossil fuel projects are funded via the companies' own funds, excluding specific projects does not stop expansion. Furthermore, thresholds (such as excluding companies with more than 30% exposure to unconventional hydrocarbons) allow diversified companies to continue developing new projects.
• The document disputes the FBF's claim that the Banking On Climate Chaos figures are 'fantastical' by explaining that the report measures annual financial flows (including loans, shares, and bonds) rather than balance sheet exposures. It notes that the ACPR highlighted a 'major methodological deficit' in reported hydrocarbon exposure data.

APA

admin (2022). L'art de noyer le poisson : nous répondons au lobby des banques françaises. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/2022/03/31/lart-de-noyer-le-poisson-nous-repondons-au-lobby-des-banques-francaises/

Chicago

admin. L'art de noyer le poisson : nous répondons au lobby des banques françaises. Reclaim Finance, 2022. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/2022/03/31/lart-de-noyer-le-poisson-nous-repondons-au-lobby-des-banques-francaises/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=admin |title=L'art de noyer le poisson : nous répondons au lobby des banques françaises |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=31 March 2022 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/2022/03/31/lart-de-noyer-le-poisson-nous-repondons-au-lobby-des-banques-francaises/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{admin2022lart, author = {admin}, title = {{L'art de noyer le poisson : nous répondons au lobby des banques françaises}}, publisher = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2022}, month = mar, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/2022/03/31/lart-de-noyer-le-poisson-nous-repondons-au-lobby-des-banques-francaises/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }