French bank BNP Paribas has announced that it will more than double its financing resources allocated to the renewable energy sector, increasing the total from EUR 6.9 billion in 2014 to EUR 15 billion in 2020. The bank is also further strengthening its carbon risk management policies and has decided that it will no longer finance coal mining activities, whether through direct financing of mining projects or by financing mining companies specialising in coal extraction, unless they have put in place an energy diversification strategy.
In turn, Société Générale has announced that it will stop financing coal mine development projects as well as coal-fired power plants in high-income OECD countries and double financing for renewable energy projects by 2020. “Societe Generale is committed to reducing its own carbon footprint and to supporting its clients in their projects in order to help them minimise their environmental impacts,” the bank’s Deputy CEO Séverin Cabannes said in a statement.
BNP CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafé stressed the bank’s support for companies and countries that are committed to the transition to sustainable energy use. “This is a high priority in which technological innovation will help to drive progress. For this reason, we have also made a commitment to invest EUR 100 million by 2020 in start-ups working to develop solutions in areas such as energy storage and smart grids,” he said.
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