The 26e United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). In Glasgow (Scotland), Friday, November 12, the Minister for Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, announced that France was joining a coalition of around thirty countries and development banks (United States, Canada, etc.) which will put an end to their investments in oil, gas and coal abroad from the end of 2022. This alliance was launched on November 5 by the United Kingdom, and widely welcomed, but France was not part of it, preferring to stay on its calendar of ending support for oil in 2025 and gas in 2035, for export.
“This signature is a decision of consistency for France. Even if this coalition has its imperfections, it creates a dynamic which is important for things to move forward ”, explains the minister.
France will therefore no longer finance, from next year, fossil energy projects that are not accompanied by “Mitigation devices” greenhouse gas emissions (such as CO capture and storage2), as provided for in the coalition text. Then, it will stick to its schedule to stop funding all projects, including those backed by carbon capture techniques: 2025 for oil and 2035 for gas. This schedule will be reviewed in 2022, but Barbara Pompili has already indicated that “Accelerate”. Coal and unconventional hydrocarbons such as shale or tar sands are no longer supported.
France isolated before this decision
France was heavily criticized in recent days because it had not joined this coalition, unlike the French Development Agency (AFD). She found herself more and more isolated on the European scene. France had indeed launched, in April, a coalition of seven countries (Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Sweden), Export Finance for Future, committing to “Accelerate the gradual exit” financing of fossil energy projects, but without setting a date. However, all these countries have, day after day during the COP26, joined the alliance led by the United Kingdom.
Mme Pompili denies having given in to the pressure. “The only pressure is that of climate change. We wanted to take the time to assess this text, she replies. It may be interesting to use CO capture-storage techniques2, but they are only at their beginning. To base everything on it would be a mistake ”, she specifies. The Minister is not in a position to say immediately how many projects will no longer be funded next year.
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