Dive Brief:
- BNP Paribas announced last week it committed over $299 billion (252 billion euros) to support the low carbon transition between 2022 and 2025, exceeding a target to invest $237 billion (200 billion euros) by the end of last year.
- The French bank said 82% of its credit exposure to energy production — $45.5 billion (38.3 billion euros) — was directed to low carbon energy financing as of September. This places the bank on track to achieve a 2030 target of 90% energy production credit exposure to low-carbon energies.
- The bank’s investment in low carbon energies grew over 37% over the course of the past three years, BNP Paribas’ Global Chief Sustainability Officer Laurence Pessez said in a LinkedIn post. The progress “emphasizes [the bank’s] capacity to back our clients’ projects and meet their expectations in all regions of the world,” she added.
Dive Insight:
BNP Paribas also shared in the update it had provided a total amount of $69 billion in sustainable finance bonds and loans in 2025, a figure the bank said placed it as the top issuer and lender in the space.
The bank defines low carbon energies as those that produce that little to no greenhouse gases and include renewables and nuclear energy. The bank’s 82% energy production credit exposure, or its percentage of energy investments directed toward low carbon energy projects, is up from 54% in 2022, when the bank set its sustainability goals.
“Supporting our societies and economies towards net-zero is indeed a priority for BNP Paribas,” the bank states on its website. “In very concrete terms, this means financing projects in line with our policies and trajectories, as well as with those defined by the European Union, to progressively reduce financing for polluting sectors, while increasing it for their more sustainable alternatives.”
BNP Paribas has taken several steps to move away from fossil fuel-focused financing and increase investments in more sustainable sources of energy.
The bank’s asset management arm announced it would stop investing in new bonds issued by companies focused on oil and gas exploration and production at the end of 2024, including diversified players. At the time, BNP Paribas Asset Management told ESG Dive that the revised strategy was in line with BNP Paribas Group’s broader practices.
BNP Paribas stopped oil project financing in 2016 and has 2030 goals to reduce oil and gas exploration and production financing by over 30% and reduce financing for oil extraction and production by 80%. Additionally, the bank no longer provides financing that supports development of new oil and gas fields, regardless of the financing methods, and states that it is fully committed to an exit from investing in or financing fossil fuels.
