When banks manipulate numbers: a response to BPCE

Reclaim Finance disputes claims by Banque Populaire Caisse d’Epargne (BPCE) that it is reducing fossil fuel financing, asserting that BPCE's reporting excludes critical activities like gas liquefaction and bond underwriting. The document argues that BPCE's renewable energy targets are insufficient for a 1.5°C pathway and that the bank applies a double standard by aggregating financing types when reporting renewable investments but rejecting the same method for fossil fuel reporting.

• Reclaim Finance argues that BPCE's renewable energy financing targets are misaligned with climate science, noting that a planned 15% increase by 2026 is insufficient. To align with a 1.5°C pathway, the document states that six dollars must be allocated to sustainable energy for every dollar directed toward fossil fuels by 2030. Additionally, BPCE's definition of renewables is criticized for including unsustainable technologies such as biomass and carbon capture and storage (CCS).
• The document claims BPCE uses a narrow reporting scope for fossil fuel exposure that excludes critical sectors such as gas power generation, pipeline transportation, and gas liquefaction and regasification. As evidence of this omitted support, the text cites BPCE's involvement in an IPO for Venture Global LNG, a bond issuance for a Venture Global LNG subsidiary in April 2025, and three capital raises for Energy Transfer in 2024 totaling US$7.7 billion.
• Reclaim Finance accuses BPCE of hypocrisy regarding the aggregation of financial services. While BPCE argues that combining lending and underwriting is misleading for fossil fuel reporting, the document points out that BPCE's own 2024 sustainability report aggregated on- and off-balance sheet financing, including bond underwriting, to claim over €16 billion in renewable energy allocations.
• The document asserts that BPCE continues to provide significant financial support to oil and gas developers through bond underwriting, citing specific examples from 2025: $5 billion for Saudi Aramco in June and $1 billion for Eni in May.

APA

Martin, L. (2025). When banks manipulate numbers: a response to BPCE. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2025/07/04/when-banks-manipulate-numbers-a-response-to-bpce/

Chicago

Martin, Léo. When banks manipulate numbers: a response to BPCE. Reclaim Finance, 2025. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2025/07/04/when-banks-manipulate-numbers-a-response-to-bpce/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Martin |first1=Léo |title=When banks manipulate numbers: a response to BPCE |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=4 July 2025 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2025/07/04/when-banks-manipulate-numbers-a-response-to-bpce/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{martin2025when, author = {Martin, Léo}, title = {{When banks manipulate numbers: a response to BPCE}}, publisher = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2025/07/04/when-banks-manipulate-numbers-a-response-to-bpce/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }