Nearly 60 NGOs are calling on banks and investors to no longer lend to TotalEnergies which is continuing “its climate-killing strategy”. (AFP/Archives/Astrid VELLGUTH)
Cut TotalEnergies’ financing by refusing to lend it money: nearly 60 NGOs called on banks and investors on Wednesday to “not participate” in the provision of new money from the company which continues “its climate-killing strategy” .
These organizations come mainly from France (Friends of the Earth, Attac), Africa (Justiça Ambiental from Mozambique, Cecic in Uganda), but are also established internationally (Reclaim Finance, Extinction Rebellion).
Nearly 70% of the company’s financing comes from its fundraising on the financial markets, via bond issues, the press release states. TotalEnergies currently has 45 loans on the markets, ten of which “are due to expire between 2024 and 2025”. The company must repay them, either with its own funds or, more commonly, by taking out a new loan.
The NGOs sent their letter to 24 banks (Crédit Agricole, HSBC, JPMorgan, etc.) so that they “publicly commit to no longer subscribing to or facilitating the issuance of bonds” and to six asset managers ( Amundi, Blackrock, Allianz…) to “refuse to grant a new loan” to TotalEnergies.
Also recipient of the letter, Bnp Paribas assures that it has “not participated in any bond issue in the oil and gas sector since February 9, 2023”.
“By helping TotalEnergies to raise money on the bond market, [banques et fonds d’investissement] then indirectly enable it to finance its new oil and gas projects, explains the joint press release from the NGOs.
“Bonds are a real financial Eldorado, more discreet than project financing, for TotalEnergies. The financial players who participate in them must realize their responsibility in financing the company’s climate strategy” defended Lara Cuvelier, sustainable investments campaign manager for Reclaim Finance, cited in the press release.
Leading asset manager in Europe, Amundi, “considers that it is its responsibility to encourage the transition of energy companies, particularly oil companies (…) by ensuring that players implement an online climate strategy with the objectives of the Paris Agreement”, according to a statement sent to AFP.
TotalEnergies reminded AFP that it had invested $17 billion in 2023, 35% of which in low-carbon energy, saying it wanted to “succeed in our transition and support that of our customers”.
Among its investment expenditure by 2030, TotalEnergies plans “a third in low-carbon energies, around 30% dedicated to the development of new oil and gas projects, the rest being devoted to the maintenance of the hydrocarbon portfolio”, indicated the company in the past.
© 2024 AFP
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