BNP Paribas Bucked 2020 Bank Trend in Fossil-Fuel Financing
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As banks reduced their overall financing of oil, gas and coal companies by almost 9% last year, French lender BNP Paribas SA boosted its funding.
BNP Paribas, which has one of the industry’s most-restrictive financing policies, provided $41.1 billion to fossil-fuel companies through loans and debt- and equity-underwriting services in 2020, up 41% from the prior year, according to a report published Wednesday by Rainforest Action Network. The bank was the only one of the 10 largest fossil-fuel financiers to increase its funding last year. Wells Fargo & Co.’s financing fell 42%.