French banks still fund coal despite finance minister’s plea

(EurActiv, 15 Nov 2019) A year ago, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire urged the country’s banks, insurers and asset managers to stop funding any new mines or coal power projects. Two weeks before Climate Finance Day (28 November, Paris), a group of NGOs published a report urging them to take a step further. EURACTIV’s partner La Tribune reports.

French banks, insurers and asset managers continue to “finance or insure companies that develop new coal projects,” according to a report published this month by the NGOs Friends of the Earth and BankTrack.

This time last year, Le Maire urged the country’s banking sector to “stop financing coal-fired power plants and mines once and for all,” asking banks, insurers and asset managers to make new commitments in relation to “financing more polluting activities, particularly coal”.

On 2 July, Le Maire brought together market participants, professional federations and regulators to launch “a new step towards greening the financial system”.

He also unveiled a series of initiatives, including the creation of a market observatory and a mechanism for monitoring commitments by the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) and the Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR, backed by the Bank of France).

“By mid-2020 at the latest, actors from the financial centre in Paris will adopt a coal strategy [and] will define a global exit timetable for financing coal activities,” Le Maire announced back then.

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EurActiv, 15 Nov 2019: French banks still fund coal despite finance minister’s plea