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Reclaim Finance argues that the current SFDR framework is too vague, leading to confusion and greenwashing. It proposes three key reforms: excluding fossil fuel developers from funds making environmental or social claims, establishing minimum quality requirements for 'green', 'transition', and 'impact' funds, and aligning transparency obligations (PAIs) with advisory processes (MiFID II and IDD) to better reflect investor preferences.

Reclaim Finance analyzes 243 sectoral targets from 30 global banks, concluding that most are ineffective due to flawed methodologies, partial coverage, and a lack of transparency. The report specifically criticizes the use of PCAF attribution factors, which can make emissions appear to drop even if real-world emissions remain flat. It recommends shifting toward targets based on financing volumes for fossil fuels, absolute sectoral portfolio emissions, and physical intensity for industrial sectors to drive genuine decarbonization.

The document examines TotalEnergies' use of the bond market to secure long-term financing, noting a trend toward abnormally long maturities extending to 2064. It argues that these bonds provide the company with unrestricted funds to pursue fossil fuel expansion, contrary to IEA Net Zero scenarios, while creating systemic and financial risks for the banks and investors involved. The report identifies specific financial institutions facilitating these issuances and calls for a total cessation of support for companies developing new oil and gas projects.

The document analyzes TotalEnergies' reliance on the bond market, specifically highlighting a trend toward abnormally long maturities (up to 2064) that secures funding for decades of fossil fuel projects. It argues that these bonds provide the company with total freedom in fund allocation, enabling the expansion of oil and gas projects in 53 countries despite global climate goals. The briefing identifies a 'loophole' where banks facilitate these emissions to avoid having the debt on their own balance sheets, and warns investors of the systemic risk of 'stranded assets' as the world transitions to renewable energy.

The policy brief contends that despite France's diplomatic leadership and the Paris Place's 2019 commitment to phase out coal, French financial institutions continue to fund coal development. It highlights the severe health and climate impacts of coal, the failure of voluntary commitments—specifically among four major French banks—and calls for a national legal ban on financial services for coal projects to ensure a credible transition.

An analysis of five leading private infrastructure firms—Macquarie Asset Management, Global Infrastructure Partners, Stonepeak, IFM Investors, and I Squared Capital—reveals a total lack of sectoral policies to prevent investment in fossil fuel expansion. Despite the sector's growth, with global assets under management surpassing US$1 trillion in 2023, these firms continue to invest heavily in midstream infrastructure and liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, posing a risk to the global carbon budget.

The AMF's first public administrative agreement with Primonial Reim regarding sustainability communication failures is seen as a positive signal but insufficient to address systemic greenwashing in French sustainable funds. Reclaim Finance and other signatories call for the total exclusion of fossil fuel developers from sustainable funds and the application of immediate, systematic sanctions for non-compliance.

The NZBA's steel sector guidance is criticized for failing to mandate strict target methodologies, omitting capital markets activities, and ignoring coal mine methane emissions. The authors argue that banks must adopt policies to end financing for blast furnace expansion and metallurgical coal mining to align with a 1.5°C pathway.

The report analyzes the financial support provided by 354 banks to the top 100 steelmakers, finding that $429 billion was provided between 2016 and June 2023. It highlights a critical gap between banks' climate commitments and their continued funding of coal-dependent blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) projects. The document argues that continuing to fund these assets creates significant stranded asset risks, estimated at $554 billion, and urges a shift toward green hydrogen direct reduced iron (DRI) and electric arc furnace (EAF) technologies.

Reclaim Finance analysed the 2024 AGM votes of Amundi, the largest European asset manager, across six major oil and gas companies. The analysis finds that Amundi consistently supports the financial accounts of these firms and the re-election of most directors despite their climate strategies being incompatible with a 1.5°C trajectory. The report highlights a particular lack of scrutiny for TotalEnergies, where Amundi is the largest shareholder and voted in favour of all resolutions. While Amundi voted against some chairs and remuneration packages at Shell and BP, it provided no public climate-related justification for these decisions, leading to ambiguity regarding its motivations.

Reclaim Finance criticizes Amundi, Europe's largest asset manager, for its inconsistent and insufficient voting practices at the 2024 general assemblies of major European oil and gas companies. The analysis finds that Amundi frequently supports the reelection of directors and financial accounts of companies like TotalEnergies, Shell, and BP, despite these firms lacking climate plans aligned with a 1.5°C trajectory. While Amundi opposed some leadership reelections at Shell and BP, the lack of public justification leaves it unclear if these votes were based on climate concerns or general governance. Reclaim Finance calls for Amundi to implement systematic climate criteria that trigger automatic votes against resolutions when companies continue fossil fuel expansion.

The report assesses the transition plans of Enel, ENGIE, EPH, Iberdrola, and Statkraft, finding that none have committed to phasing out fossil gas by 2035 as recommended by the IEA. While Iberdrola and Statkraft demonstrate better practices in transitioning to sustainable power systems, Enel, ENGIE, and EPH continue to develop fossil gas-fired plants and lack coal phase-out plans based on absolute closures.

The analysis finds that none of the five examined electricity producers have a robust transition plan aligned with a 1.5°C limit, specifically lacking firm commitments to exit fossil gas by 2035. While Iberdrola and Statkraft show better practices and a shift toward sustainable energy, Enel, ENGIE, and EPH continue to develop gas plants and require coal exit plans focused on closures rather than sales to ensure absolute emission reductions.

Reclaim Finance, BankTrack, SteelWatch, and the Fair Steel Coalition have sent a letter to 21 banks that finance ArcelorMittal, the world's second-largest steel company. The coalition alerts these financiers to risks and adverse impacts documented in two reports: 'The Real Co$t of Steel', which details violence against environmental defenders and neglect of worker health in South Africa, Liberia, Mexico, and Brazil, and the 'ArcelorMittal Corporate Climate Assessment 2024', which finds the company is not aligned with a 1.5C scenario and is investing in coal-based steel production. The letter demands that banks require ArcelorMittal to publish concrete action plans, adopt a 1.5-aligned Climate Action Plan, and perform enhanced due diligence. Additionally, the coalition calls on banks to adopt sectoral policies to restrict financing for coal-based steelmaking, specifically ending services for new blast furnaces and the relining of existing ones.

The document analyzes the June 2024 sale of 1.55 billion Saudi Aramco shares, classifying it as a Secondary Share Offering (SSO) where funds benefit the Saudi government rather than the company. While distinguishing SSOs from Primary Share Offerings (PSO) that provide direct capital for expansion, the author argues that financial institutions should avoid both to prevent supporting fossil fuel developers and increasing the attractiveness of oil and gas stocks.

Reclaim Finance criticizes the involvement of over 20 financial institutions, including BNP Paribas, HSBC, and UBS, in a June 2024 secondary share offering (SSO) of 1.55 billion Saudi Aramco shares. While noting that an SSO does not provide new capital to the company for fossil fuel expansion, the author argues that such transactions reinforce the attractiveness of fossil fuel stocks. The document calls for a total ban on financial services—including coordination, bookrunning, and advisory—for any energy company continuing fossil fuel expansion, specifically targeting primary share offerings (PSOs) as a critical funding mechanism that must be prohibited to align with the IEA's Net Zero Emissions scenario.

Reclaim Finance expresses its support for the Nouveau Front populaire in the 2024 French legislative elections, citing the coalition's commitment to transforming finance to serve a just ecological transition. The organization contrasts this with the far-right, specifically the Rassemblement national, which it claims opposes climate progress and seeks to repeal the European Green Deal. A key policy priority highlighted is the prohibition of financing for new fossil fuel energy projects.

A coalition of environmental organizations, including Greenpeace and Reclaim Finance, responded to the French Senate's inquiry into TotalEnergies. While they welcome the report's critical assessment of TotalEnergies' "climaticide" strategy and its expansion of fossil fuels, they argue that the 33 recommendations lack the binding measures necessary to align the company with the Paris Agreement. The associations specifically criticize the absence of super-profit taxation and the perceived weakness of the French state in regulating the multinational.

Reclaim Finance and a coalition of organizations call on the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) to combat systemic greenwashing in French financial products. The authors highlight that a significant portion of passive and employee savings funds claiming sustainability continue to invest in fossil fuel expansion. They demand the AMF use its existing powers to sanction misleading information and revise its doctrine on extra-financial approaches to ensure that companies developing new fossil fuel projects are excluded from sustainable funds.

A coalition of over 20 experts and NGOs has sent an open letter to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) demanding an end to greenwashing in the French financial sector. The signatories highlight that a significant portion of funds claiming sustainability continue to finance fossil fuel expansion, arguing that current AMF supervision of extra-financial information is insufficient and lacks deterrent sanctions. They call for the systematic exclusion of companies developing new fossil fuel projects from sustainable or green funds and a revision of the AMF's doctrine on funds integrating extra-financial approaches.