the finance sector can do better

Obviously, the climate promises of the sector are still far from being in conformity with the objective of the Paris Agreement signed in 2015. The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire himself recognizes this: “the commitments made in recent years on stopping the financing of coal and reducing that of unconventional hydrocarbons are not enough… We must go faster and be more transparent”he insists.

To deal with criticism, the Paris market announced the creation of an Institute for Sustainable Finance, which will be operational in the coming weeks. Which is largely insufficient in the eyes of environmental associations who made it known Thursday, October 27 by demonstrating on the steps of the Stock Exchange.

It is the European Central Bank which says it: currently, the large commercial banks are far from respecting the good practices. But as explained Thursday, October 27 on franceinfo the boss of Crédit Agricole, Philippe Brassac: “We can decide at any time to stop the financing of fossil fuels overnight… Doing it immediately raises a question of responsibility for what should be a transition as such”. Implied, pay attention to the collateral effects, particularly in terms of jobs.

Much further than certain companies that do what is called “greenwashing” (advertising on the back of the environment), it is a question of making public and private work together to invest in the ecological transition. Individuals are involved, everyone can participate through their savings in particular, but a great vagueness remains. The criteria that define what exactly constitutes a sustainable investment are not yet fully known. For example, we have nothing specific about investments related to water, pollution, circular economy and biodiversity. As for the obligation to publish environmental data by companies, it does not start until January 2023.