Crédit Agricole logo outside a bank office in Reze
PARIS, Dec 6 (Reuters) – French bank Crédit Agricole SA CAGR.PA announced on Tuesday that it would no longer finance oil extraction projects by 2025 and that it would complete its withdrawal from coal-fired power stations by this date. .
As part of its energy transition policy and its carbon neutrality objectives, the banking establishment indicates that it plans to completely withdraw from the coal-fired power plant sector over the period 2030-2040.
Crédit Agricole SA adds that the bank wants to reduce its exposure to oil extraction by 25% by 2025 compared to 2020.
At the same time, it wants to increase its exposure to low-carbon energy production by 60% within its financing and investment bank Cacib by 2025.
“The acceleration of investment and financing in green energies is imperative to contribute effectively to the urgency of the energy transition, instead of fossil fuels”, underlines Crédit Agricole SA in a press release.
“Stopping only the financing of fossil fuels would quickly ‘green’ the bank’s balance sheet, but would penalize all the populations still dependent on these energies without supporting them in their own transition”, continues the bank.
Crédit Agricole SA also announces that next year it will announce its carbon neutrality targets for the maritime transport, aviation, steel, residential real estate and agriculture sectors.
(Written by Matthieu Protard, edited by Blandine Hénault)