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The French state investment bank said Wednesday it would no longer finance new oil and gas projects, as it stepped up its climate change commitments.
The Caisse des Depots adopted its first action plan to adapt to climate change.
The banking group will no longer make “investments and direct financing of new oil and gas production projects and the infrastructure directly related to these new projects.”
It said it would also stop financing oil companies without plans to reduce production.
The Caisse des Depots said it was also lowering the threshold for excluding companies with revenue from coal to five percent of revenue.
“Contributing to the environmental transformation is at the heart of the purpose of the Caisse des Depots group,” said its director, Eric Lombard.
Climate groups regularly criticise banks for continuing to invest in the expansion of fossil fuel production when consumption will need to fall if global warming is to be kept to a relatively safe 1.5 degrees Celsius.
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