COLLATERAL DAMAGE: Ending the ECB’s support to fossil fuel companies

The briefing analyzes the ECB's Eurosystem collateral framework (ESCF), finding that it provides liquidity support to 34 fossil fuel companies, including major oil, gas, and coal developers. It argues that the ECB's planned 2024 limit on 'high-emitting companies' is insufficient because it overlooks financial subsidiaries and fails to remove the 'eligibility bonus' that eases financing for these firms. The report further highlights that haircuts for fossil fuel assets are often too low—some as low as 1% for Eni and TotalEnergies—and do not account for 'stranding risk' or environmental damage. Reclaim Finance recommends a full exclusion of companies developing new fossil fuel fields and a revision of haircuts to align with climate-related financial risks.

• Between July and September 2023, and November 2023 and January 2024, the ECB's collateral framework allowed assets from 34 fossil fuel companies to be eligible, including 32 oil and gas companies and 10 coal industry companies.
• The ECB provides support to companies that are actively expanding fossil fuel production, such as Glencore, the world's fourth largest thermal coal mining developer, and major oil and gas firms like Shell, TotalEnergies, BP, Equinor, Eni, and Repsol.
• The ECB's planned 2024 limit on 'high-emitting companies' is unlikely to be effective because it excludes financial subsidiaries, which were the primary issuers of eligible assets for Repsol, BP, Glencore, and Shell during the study period.
• Fossil fuel assets represent a small portion of the total eligible collateral universe—approximately 1% by value—meaning their exclusion would not hinder the efficiency of monetary policy.
• Current haircuts for fossil fuel assets do not reflect their inherent financial and environmental risks; some upstream oil and gas developers, specifically Eni and TotalEnergies, have assets with haircuts as low as 1%.
• The ESCF fails to account for 'stranding risk,' particularly for new production projects that are not required in a 1.5°C scenario and may be closed before their investment costs are recovered.

APA

Murphy, C., Her, H., Williams, C., Schreiber, P., Hauke, F., Bartsch, N., Bühnemann, M., Mathieu, A., Burley, H., Bakaloglou, S., Delaporte, L.-M., & Gebel, B. (2024). COLLATERAL DAMAGE: Ending the ECB’s support to fossil fuel companies. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BRIEFING-2024.04.04_Reclaim-Finance_Collateral-damage-FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Murphy, Clarisse, Henri Her, Clara Williams, Paul Schreiber, Fiona Hauke, Nils Bartsch, Marc Bühnemann, et al. COLLATERAL DAMAGE: Ending the ECB’s support to fossil fuel companies. Reclaim Finance, 2024. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BRIEFING-2024.04.04_Reclaim-Finance_Collateral-damage-FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Murphy |first1=Clarisse |last2=Her |first2=Henri |last3=Williams |first3=Clara |last4=Schreiber |first4=Paul |last5=Hauke |first5=Fiona |last6=Bartsch |first6=Nils |last7=Bühnemann |first7=Marc |last8=Mathieu |first8=Aurore |last9=Burley |first9=Helen |display-authors=etal |title=COLLATERAL DAMAGE: Ending the ECB’s support to fossil fuel companies |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=April 2024 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BRIEFING-2024.04.04_Reclaim-Finance_Collateral-damage-FINAL.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{murphy2024collateral, author = {Murphy, Clarisse and Her, Henri and Williams, Clara and Schreiber, Paul and Hauke, Fiona and Bartsch, Nils and Bühnemann, Marc and Mathieu, Aurore and Burley, Helen and Bakaloglou, Sarah and Delaporte, Louis-Maxence and Gebel, Bastien}, title = {{COLLATERAL DAMAGE: Ending the ECB’s support to fossil fuel companies}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2024}, month = apr, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BRIEFING-2024.04.04_Reclaim-Finance_Collateral-damage-FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }