THE PRICE OF GAS

Between 2021 and 2024, 24 major European banks provided US$41.9 billion to companies developing new gas plants, with 63% of this funding coming from seven banks in France and the UK. The report contends that gas power is not a 'transition fuel' but a source of severe air pollution, price volatility, and long-term greenhouse gas emissions lock-in. It highlights that 78% of this financing is directed toward OECD and European countries, where power sectors are expected to be carbon neutral by 2035. The document concludes that banks must immediately end financial services to gas power expansion to align with a 1.5°C warming limit.

• European banks increased their annual financial support for gas power expansion by 6% on average between 2021 and 2024, totaling US$41.9 billion for companies developing over 320 new plants.
• Financing is highly concentrated among seven institutions from France and the UK: BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Groupe BPCE, Société Générale, Barclays, HSBC, and Standard Chartered, who provide 63% of the total support.
• The expansion of gas power is incompatible with decarbonization timelines, as plants have operational lifetimes of at least 25 years, while OECD and European power systems should reach carbon neutrality by 2035.
• Gas power generation in the EU27 and UK caused up to 2,864 premature deaths in 2019 due to the emission of toxic air pollutants like nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter.
• Gas power creates significant electricity price volatility; in Europe, gas plants set wholesale prices 39% of the time between 2015 and 2021, despite generating only about 18% of energy.
• Most European banks lack robust sectoral policies to restrict gas financing; only La Banque Postale is identified as having a credible policy to phase out oil and gas by 2030.
• The 20 most financed gas power developers received over US$33.4 billion, with 15 being power utilities and two being oil and gas majors (Saudi Energy and BP).
• Methane leaks in the gas supply chain significantly increase the climate impact of gas power; if leaks exceed 4%, gas becomes more harmful to the climate than coal over a 20-year period.

APA

Hermant, R., Etienne, C., Sebrecht, P.-A., Hernandez, A., Werlé, N., Oakley, H., Jeandon, J., Moe, S., Burley, H., Bakaloglu, S., Lami, C. S., Pinson, L., & Drouet, H. (2026). THE PRICE OF GAS. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The_Price_of_Gas_Reclaim_Finance_April_2026.pdf

Chicago

Hermant, Rémi, Christophe Etienne, Pierre-Alain Sebrecht, Andréa Hernandez, Noam Werlé, Hele Oakley, Jordan Jeandon, et al. THE PRICE OF GAS. Reclaim Finance, 2026. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The_Price_of_Gas_Reclaim_Finance_April_2026.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{hermant2026price, author = {Hermant, Rémi and Etienne, Christophe and Sebrecht, Pierre-Alain and Hernandez, Andréa and Werlé, Noam and Oakley, Hele and Jeandon, Jordan and Moe, Signe and Burley, Helen and Bakaloglu, Sarah and Lami, Caroline Sourzac and Pinson, Lucie and Drouet, Hélène}, title = {{THE PRICE OF GAS}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2026}, month = apr, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The_Price_of_Gas_Reclaim_Finance_April_2026.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }