BNP Paribas expressed its “disagreement” with NGOs who have put the French bank on notice to stop financing new oil and gas projects, in a letter that AFP consulted on Thursday.
“We fully understand the political nature of your action and fully respect both the associations you represent and their fight for the climate”, writes Antoine Sire, director of corporate engagement on the group’s executive committee, in a letter dated of January 24.
The bank had until Thursday to provide a response to the NGOs before the latter decide whether or not to launch a summons.
Companies “cannot replace the legislator”, considers BNP Paribas, which says it “deeply disagrees” with their interpretation of the legislation on the duty of vigilance.
“The injunctions that are made to us (…) are not intended to comply with the law on the duty of vigilance, they go clearly beyond”, estimates the person in charge.
“We are convinced that our vigilance plan not only meets the legal requirements, but even goes beyond on each of the aspects that your letter mentions”, insists the bank.
Three NGOs gave formal notice to the French banking giant at the end of October, asking it in particular to stop financing new oil and gas projects.
Oxfam, Friends of the Earth and Notre Affaire à Tous accuse BNP Paribas of being “the first European funder and the fifth in the world for the development of fossil fuels, with 55 billion dollars (about 50 billion euros, editor’s note) in financing granted between 2016 and 2021” to new extraction projects.
Since 2017, the French law on “the duty of vigilance” requires large companies to take effective measures to prevent human rights and environmental abuses throughout their chain of activity.
According to the law, companies given formal notice have three months to comply and possibly dialogue with NGOs, before the latter can launch a possible summons.
Questioned by AFP on Thursday, the NGO Oxfam said that it would take the time to study the letter from BNP Paribas before deciding, within “a few weeks”, on a possible summons of the bank to justice. .
Discover the best free bank cards thanks to our comparison
“All options are on the table,” said the NGO’s finance and climate advocacy manager, Alexandre Poidatz, judging already “insufficient” of the climate commitments announced by the bank earlier in the week.
A historic financier of the industrial sector, BNP announced on Tuesday new climate commitments by wanting to divide by five its financing for the oil extraction and production sector.
In the letter addressed to NGOs, Antoine Sire further states that “BNP Paribas is accelerating the reallocation of its financing towards a low-carbon economy, by constantly refining its commitments, policies and means dedicated to their implementation”.
The group also notes that it has not directly financed new oil projects since 2016. However, its support for companies continuing to develop new fields is partly counted as exploration and production.
In response to the request from NGOs to completely stop financing any company that develops new fossil fuel projects, BNP Paribas, which notably counts TotalEnergies among its clients, believes that this “would be equivalent to immediately stopping all forms of financing for companies in the sector , in particular those which play a key role in Europe’s energy supplies”.