Taking place on 1-2 March in Libreville, this summit has the
chance to place the financial sector’s complicity in global deforestation on the
agenda of the crucial “Summit for a New Global Financial Pact” in France this
summer.
Previous research from
Global Witness has revealed that BNP Paribas could have made €32.9
million from deals with agribusinesses responsible for deforestation since
2016. Collectively, French banks last year alone provided at least €286
million in forest-risk loans
and underwriting services, whilst French asset managers also held €966 million
worth of forest-risk bonds and shares – making France the biggest forest-risk investor in the European Union.
Giulia
Bondi, Senior EU Forests Campaigner at Global Witness, said:
“This week’s summit cannot be another leafy
photo op for world leaders to tell the world how committed they are to
combatting deforestation. What’s needed are real and lasting commitments to
stop the multimillion-euro investments financial institutions are continuing to
make in deforestation. If European leaders like Macron want to be taken
seriously on deforestation, they must address the role of financial
institutions in their own backyard.
“As data shows, French and other EU-based financial
institutions are enabling the decimation of climate critical forests and until
they stop pumping money into this destruction any claims around ‘green’ or
‘net-zero’ are laughable.
“Decades of voluntary initiatives from
financiers on green projects have not been enough to stop the ongoing rampant
deforestation. The European Commission must urgently make good on its promise
to propose rules to stop banks from funding deforestation – and the French
government must be at the driving seat in this commitment.”
The summit comes just three months after the EU agreed on a landmark
regulation to eliminate deforestation-risk products from its supply
chains. Despite its ambition, the law lacks rules to ensure EU-based financial
institutions stop investing in deforestation – which the Commission has committed
to look into no later than two years after the law enters into force.
