Press releases
French banks reaffirm their targets and keep the track over the long term on the ecological transition
Growth in renewable energy financing and in green and sustainable outstanding loans. In 2025, for every €1 of financing allocated to fossil fuel production, €3.4 were directed to renewable energies and €17 to green and sustainable loans (compared with €2.7 and €13 respectively in 2024).
French banks maintain strong momentum in steering financial flows towards the ecological transition. They are increasingly financing their clients’ transition projects—whether businesses, local authorities or individuals. In this context, they are publishing their annual reference study, which reviews developments in their financing activities and actions*:
- With €102 billion in renewable energy financing, French banks rank among the global leaders, recording growth of 92% over three years in 2025.
- The volume of green and sustainable loans on their balance sheets increased by 8.3%, rising from €471 billion in 2024 to €510 billion in 2025.
- Today, for every €1 of financing for fossil fuel production, €3.4 is allocated to renewable energies and €17 to green and sustainable loans.
- This momentum is firmly under way and banks’ strategy remains unchanged: they will continue their efforts over the long term to support the economy and their clients in the essential decarbonisation of activities.
Ever-increasing financing for renewable energies and green and sustainable activities
In response to the climate and nature emergency, French banks continue to finance the transition across all economic sectors. Their outstanding green and sustainable loans increased by 37% over two years, reaching €510 billion in 2025. Banks are deploying financial solutions to support their clients’ transitions across a wide range of sectors, including energy, industry, transport (clean vehicles and low‑carbon infrastructure projects), and real estate (residential, commercial and public buildings).
In renewable energy financing, French banks are part of an exemplary market dynamic that positions them as global leaders. Outstanding loans in renewable energies exceeded €102 billion in 2025, representing 6% growth compared with 2024. Four French banks rank among the world’s top ten players in the renewable energy project finance market.
They also support their clients through the arrangement of green and sustainable bonds. Here again, they are among the global leaders, with €103 billion structured and distributed on behalf of clients in 2025.
Since 2021, French banks have expressed their commitment to financing a transition pathway towards a low‑carbon economy by 2050. To this end, they have published independently determined, science‑based decarbonisation trajectories for the most greenhouse‑gas‑intensive sectors (notably oil and gas, thermal coal, power generation, and automotive manufacturing). They have now fully entered the implementation phase of these trajectories and the monitoring of decarbonisation efforts across their portfolios.
A very sharp reduction in French banks’ exposure to fossil fuels
French banks are among the first institutions to have defined targets for a gradual phasing out of fossil fuels, and the weight of this sector on their balance sheets is now extremely low: 0.01% for thermal coal, even though it still accounts for 27% of global energy consumption and its production increased by 1% year on year (source: International Energy Agency (IEA)). Exposure to hydrocarbon production now represents just 0.28% of total balance sheets, down 17% in one year, despite oil and fossil gas still accounting for 53% of global energy consumption in 2024 and their production increasing by 1.5% over one year (source: IEA).
No French bank features in IJ Global’s 2025 global top‑20 ranking for fossil fuel sector financing, either in lending or in bond issuance structuring.
Beyond climate change mitigation, French banks support their clients on an increasingly broad range of environmental challenges, including climate adaptation, nature, water and circular economy. They invest in skills development across all functions (Risk, Human Resources, etc.) and business lines to support the ecological transition—for example, by training nearly 500,000 of their employees worldwide on ESG issues.
According to Daniel Baal, Chairman of the FBF and of its Climate and Biodiversity Committee:
“Banks are fully aware that the climate emergency is the defining challenge of our generation. According to experts, France could experience a temperature increase of +2.7°C by 2050. In our business, 2050 is tomorrow. In 2025, €510 billion in green and sustainable loans were granted—an increase of nearly 40% in two years—once again reflecting the strong mobilisation of French banks. In an international context marked by significant uncertainty and very substantial investment needs, French banks are continuing to steer financial flows towards transition projects in order to support their clients and the economy over the long term in decarbonising activities.”
*The published data are drawn from France’s six largest banking groups. Methodologies for accounting for financing activities supporting the transition continue to evolve and to become more harmonised from year to year, notably through the sharing of best practices and in response to regulatory requirements. This ongoing improvement leads to adjustments in certain calculation methodologies from one year to the next.
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