French bank does exactly what Canadian banks refuse to do

A huge win today for the climate! French bank La Banque Postale announced it is stopping all financing to the oil and gas sectors by 2030. And they’re immediately stopping all current finance going to potential oil and gas development.

While many major banks are releasing their policies on financing oil and gas ahead of COP26, very few of their plans are enough to meet what is required to avoid further escalation of climate disaster. All except La Banque Postale. They are now one of the first major institutions to commit to the change required to keep the world under 1.5°C of warming.

Campaigners at Reclaim Finance and Friends of the Earth France said:

“If all banks were to copy and paste La Banque Postale’s policy, the climate would be largely spared,”

It’s so inspiring to see a major financial institution listening to the science and listening to the mountains of pressure from campaigners. With this move, they’re putting thousands of other financial institutions under pressure to do the right thing and stop funding fossil fuel projects.

In addition to respecting Indigenous rights, this is what Canadian banks like RBC need to do.

More info on Reuters story.