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France: The Bank of France tightens its policy of excluding fossil fuels

The Bank of France will exclude from its portfolios companies that develop new fossil fuel extraction projects by the end of 2024 as part of its climate-focused responsible investment strategy, a move welcomed by the NGO Reclaim Finance.

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The Bank of 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 Bank of France’s responsible investment strategy has had the ambition to always strengthen its commitments to the climate and broaden the scope,” stressed Deputy Secretary General for Finance and Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Alexandre Gautier, on the sidelines of the presentation of the Bank of 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 on hydrocarbons by the end of 2024. The central bank sends “a strong signal to all financial actors”, welcomed the NGO Reclaim Finance in a statement. The Banque de France has also announced its participation this year in the “first coordinated publication exercise by Eurosystem central banks on harmonized climate impact indicators”, as well as in the development of climate stress tests jointly with the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR).

Since 2018, it has embarked on a responsible investor approach, adopting a charter and then a three-pronged strategy covering climate, broader environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and its commitment to the companies in which it is a shareholder.

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