FUELING EXTINCTION

The report argues that the European Central Bank (ECB) fails to account for the biodiversity risks associated with the fossil fuel industry in its monetary and supervisory operations. Despite recognizing nature-related risks, the ECB maintains assets from high-risk fossil fuel companies in its corporate portfolios and allows them as collateral. Furthermore, the report finds that EU banks under ECB supervision provided US$161 billion to companies with fossil fuel projects in critical biodiversity areas between 2021 and 2025. The authors recommend that the ECB adopt a 'double materiality' approach, exclude biodiversity-harming fossil fuel companies from its portfolios and collateral framework, and require banks to implement roadmaps to cease financing such activities.

• The fossil fuel industry significantly threatens critical biodiversity areas, with 32% of existing and 69% of planned facilities located in these regions.
• The ECB's corporate monetary portfolios included assets from at least 15 of the 80 companies most harmful to biodiversity as of May 2026, representing nearly 10% of the number of corporate bonds held.
• EU-headquartered companies with extensive fossil fuel facilities in critical biodiversity areas had a more than 50% chance of having their assets purchased by the ECB.
• The ECB's collateral framework provides indirect support to biodiversity-harming companies; in May 2026, assets from such companies accounted for approximately 10% of eligible marketable assets issued by non-financial and certain financial corporations.
• The ECB's 'climate factor' introduced in June 2026 is insufficient to deter the use of biodiversity-harming assets as collateral because its maximum discount is only 5% and it lacks specific biodiversity criteria.
• Between 2021 and 2025, 33 major EU banks supervised by the ECB provided US$161 billion in financial support to 45 companies with fossil fuel projects in critical biodiversity areas.
• A small group of five companies—TotalEnergies, Eni, Venture Global, BP, and Enbridge—received nearly half of the total financing (approximately US$78 billion) from the largest EU-based banks between 2021 and 2025.
• Financial support from EU banks to these companies is split between loans (57%) and underwriting services (43%).

APA

Murphy, C., & Etienne, C. (2026). FUELING EXTINCTION. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Fueling-Extinction-why-the-ecb-must-act-on-the-biodiversity-risks-of-fossil-fuels.pdf

Chicago

Murphy, Clarisse, and Christophe Etienne. FUELING EXTINCTION. Reclaim Finance, 2026. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Fueling-Extinction-why-the-ecb-must-act-on-the-biodiversity-risks-of-fossil-fuels.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Murphy |first1=Clarisse |last2=Etienne |first2=Christophe |title=FUELING EXTINCTION |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=September 2026 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Fueling-Extinction-why-the-ecb-must-act-on-the-biodiversity-risks-of-fossil-fuels.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{murphy2026fueling, author = {Murphy, Clarisse and Etienne, Christophe}, title = {{FUELING EXTINCTION}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2026}, month = sep, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Fueling-Extinction-why-the-ecb-must-act-on-the-biodiversity-risks-of-fossil-fuels.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }