Do French banks finance renewable energy?

Reclaim Finance argues that major French banks are failing to support the energy transition, continuing to provide significant funding to fossil fuels while lacking transparent perimeters and sufficient targets for sustainable energy investment. The analysis highlights a gap between the banks' public references to the IEA's Net-Zero Emission scenario and their actual financial commitments, which do not meet the required 5:1 ratio of clean energy to fossil fuel investment by 2030.

• French banks continue to provide substantial financing to fossil fuel expansion, with over $47 billion allocated in 2022 to the 100 companies most active in developing new fossil fuel projects.
• Major French banks—specifically BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Société Générale, and BPCE/Natixis—lack transparent and consistent definitions of what constitutes 'clean', 'low carbon', or 'renewable' energy, with some including waste-to-energy in their transition financing.
• Despite referencing the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Net-Zero Emission (NZE) scenario, none of the analyzed French banks have committed to the required 5:1 ratio of investment in clean energy versus fossil fuels by 2030.
• The document identifies a critical need for financing to move beyond energy production to include the upgrading, renovation, and flexibilization of electricity grids and storage, which should account for nearly half of transition financing by 2050.

APA

Martin, L. (2023). Do French banks finance renewable energy? Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2023/05/04/do-french-banks-finance-renewable-energy/

Chicago

Martin, Léo. Do French banks finance renewable energy? Reclaim Finance, 2023. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2023/05/04/do-french-banks-finance-renewable-energy/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Martin |first1=Léo |title=Do French banks finance renewable energy? |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=4 May 2023 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2023/05/04/do-french-banks-finance-renewable-energy/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{martin2023french, author = {Martin, Léo}, title = {{Do French banks finance renewable energy?}}, publisher = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2023}, month = may, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2023/05/04/do-french-banks-finance-renewable-energy/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }