Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas
Olivier Gavalda, Chief Executive Officer of Credit Agricole S.A.
Slawomir Krupa, Chief Executive Officer of Societe Generale
Nicolas Namias, Chief Executive Officer of Group BPCE
Isabelle Ferrand, Chief Executive Officer of Credit Mutuel
Dear Sirs and Madam:
In 2015, France served as the stage for critical climate negotiations. At COP21, countries and communities most at risk from the climate crisis fought for their survival and won the ambition to keep global temperature rise below 1.5°C.
A decade later, we find ourselves in France once more – this time, to fight for the protection of our seas at the third United Nations Ocean Conference. UNOC3 is an important opportunity for collective action for the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources and the world’s seas, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14) and the Kunming-Montreal Agreement under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
But one cannot speak of ocean conservation while ignoring a grave threat to marine ecosystems and coastal communities across the world: fossil fuels, which doubly endanger our ocean from the intensifying impacts of the climate crisis, and direct pollution and ecological disruption throughout its value chain.
We, the undersigned organizations across and beyond Southeast Asia, call on your Banks to stop endangering our region’s seas.
Southeast Asia and its surrounding waters in the Pacific Ocean is home to the Coral Triangle – the world’s epicenter of marine biodiversity, supporting over 120 million people and housing 76% of global coral species and 37% of reef species. This irreplaceable ecosystem is unfortunately under grave threat from fossil fuels.
Today, 183 oil and gas fields are present in the Coral Triangle. 113 of these are currently operational, 13 are in development, and 50 have just been discovered. If all fields being explored for extraction are allowed to operate, the area covered by offshore oil and gas fields in the marine region will increase from 1% to a devastating 16%. These oil and gas blocks overlap with 24% of coral, 37% of mangroves, and 22% of seagrass ecosystems in the region.
Meanwhile, 15 of 19 operating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in the Coral Triangle are found within 10 kilometers of sensitive marine ecosystems, including coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass beds. The proposed export capacity is 24 million tons per annum (mtpa), while the import capacity is 25.9 mtpa. Moreover, proposals for gas power plants within the Coral Triangle amount to a combined total capacity of 64,383 MW.
Global Northern financial institutions are fueling these destructive activities, and your Banks are placing France among those at the top of this list. From 2016 to 2024, five French banks—BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Société Générale, Groupe BPCE, and Crédit Mutuel—collectively funneled nearly USD 5 billion into gas development in the Coral Triangle.
Despite public commitments to climate and ocean action, French banks remain the seventh-largest financiers of gas in the Coral Triangle and the second-largest among European countries. While some of your policies do include restrictions against project financing for non-conventional oil and gas and activities located in heritage sites or protected areas, none have specific restrictions on gas projects located in areas not legally designated as heritage or protected sites–effectively risking the majority of the Coral Triangle, as only 2.5% of the Triangle’s marine area is currently protected.
This leaves areas like the Verde Island Passage (VIP) in the Philippines vulnerable to destruction. The VIP, dubbed the ‘Amazon of the Ocean’, is host to 60% of all known marine shorefish species in the world, but also to a concentration of LNG power generation facilities and import terminals. Such is also the case for projects like Tangguh LNG in Bintuni Bay, West Papua, Indonesia, an area known as one of the largest contiguous mangrove forests in the world.
The Coral Triangle is already experiencing the effects of rising sea temperatures, ocean acidification, and destructive coastal development, all of which are exacerbated by fossil fuel development. The expansion of gas infrastructure and other fossil fuel activities not only accelerates climate change, but also directly destroys coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass beds, undermining food security and the livelihoods of millions. Increased shipping activities also pose amplified risks of marine pollution from fossil and other toxic cargo spills.
UNOC3 comes at the heels of COP29 in Baku, which failed to deliver just and ambitious climate finance commitments owed by historically polluting nations to countries most at risk from the climate crisis. Yet, not only are Global Northern nations refusing to close the gigantic climate finance gap – they and their financial institutions, like your Banks, are also placing our people, our seas, and our right to survival and a sustainable future in peril by continuing to pour billions into fossil fuels.
We are aware of the varying degrees of contribution your Banks have made in bringing UNOC3 to life. Enabling critical conversations such as this is important, yet your Banks cannot claim ocean protection and sustainability leadership in one space while bringing destruction to another.
We call on BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Société Générale, Groupe BPCE, Crédit Mutuel, and all French financial institutions to:
- Publicly commit, in writing, to divest from and to end all forms of financing for new and expanded fossil fuel projects in the Coral Triangle, the Mekong Delta, the Verde Island Passage, and all other vulnerable marine ecosystems.
- Close existing policy loopholes that allow continued support for fossil gas, including so-called “new-generation” gas plants and infrastructure not located in protected areas.
- Align all financing activities with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target and the scientific consensus that no new long-lead time fossil fuel projects are compatible with a safe climate future.
- Lead in scaling up financing for renewable energy and just transition initiatives that benefit communities and protect marine biodiversity, and climate adaptation efforts for climate-vulnerable communities.
Vulnerable peoples across the world made history in France with the Paris Agreement in 2015. At UNOC3, history can and must also be made with ambitious action across all sectors to protect our ocean—and we challenge you to do your part. There is no place for continued fossil fuel expansion in renewables-rich Southeast Asia. A fossil-free Coral Triangle is possible, and your financial support of fossil fuel destruction in our marine paradise needs to end—now.
Signed,
Energy Shift Southeast Asia
Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED)
Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS)
RimbaWatch
Climate Action Network Southeast Asia (CANSEA)
People’s Coalition for The Rights to Water (KRuHA)
CBCP-Caritas Philippines
Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD)
BankTrack
Rainforest Action Network
Say No to LNG
Urgewald
Andy Gheorghiu Consulting
Waterkeepers Bangladesh
Dhoritri Rokhhay Amra (DHORA)
ReCommon
Mothers Rise Up
Growthwatch
Laudato Si’ Movement
Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network (CLEAN)
Center for International Environmental Law