The Banque de France announced Thursday that it will exclude from its portfolios by the end of 2024 “any company developing new fossil fuel extraction projects”, a decision welcomed by the NGO Reclaim Finance.
Since its launch in 2018, the Banque de France’s responsible investment strategy has had the ambition to always strengthen its commitments for the climate and to broaden the scope, underlined the Deputy Secretary General for Finance and Socially Responsible Investment (SRI). ) Alexandre Gautier, on the sidelines of the presentation of the Banque de France’s 2022 annual responsible investment report.
The exclusion policy for fossil fuels has so far consisted of a total exit from coal and a strengthening of the exclusion criteria for hydrocarbons by the end of 2024.
The central bank is sending a strong signal to all financial players, welcomed the NGO Reclaim Finance in a press release.
The Banque de France also announced its participation this year in the first coordinated publication exercise of Eurosystem central banks on harmonized climate impact indicators, as well as in the development of climate stress tests jointly with the Prudential Control and Resolution Authority (ACPR).
Since 2018, it has engaged in a responsible investor approach, adopting a charter and then a three-pronged strategy relating to the climate, more broadly environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and its commitment to companies in which it is a shareholder.