BNP Paribas announced on Wednesday that it would include metallurgical coal, intended mainly for the steel industry, among the sectors that it would no longer finance for environmental reasons, while only thermal coal was affected by this commitment until now.
In an update of its sectoral policy on the mining industry, the bank indicates that it has decided to stop financing any project linked to the extraction of metallurgical or thermal coal, while the previous mention only cited coal thermal.
In 2020, BNP Paribas committed to completely exiting financing of the entire value chain of companies linked to thermal coal by 2030 in OECD and European Union countries, and by 2040 in the rest of the world.
The bank recalls in the glossary of this update that metallurgical coal, or coked coal, is essentially used for the production of coke, the main source of carbon used in the steel industry for the reduction of iron ore.
Thermal coal, or steam coal, is mainly used for the production of electricity, she also recalls.
This new commitment, BNP Paribas told AFP, is part of the work to align BNP Paribas’ credit portfolio in the steel sector with its commitment net zero.
All rights of reproduction and representation reserved. 2023 Agence France-Presse.