Greenpeace criticises the European Central Bank (ECB) for failing to keep its promises to make its corporate bond portfolio more green, in a study published on Wednesday 26 July with SOAS University of London, the University of Greenwich and the University of the West of England.
According to the NGO, around 23% of the outstanding green bonds purchased by the ECB as part of its reinvestments correspond to companies linked to fossil fuels. Ten additional bonds were purchased from other carbon-intensive companies.
The study suggests ways of accelerating the decarbonisation of portfolios through active management.
According to Kuba Gogolewski, campaign organiser for financial issues at Greenpeace, “(...) without a rapid change of strategy, there will still be bonds of both TotalEnergies and BP in the ECB corporate bond portfolio in 2040”. The NGO also questions how ‘green’ certain green bonds really are.
Greenpeace also regrets the impact of the latest Governing Council decisions tightening the ECB's portfolio (see EUROPE 13202/6) on the tilting mechanism which favours corporate bonds with a better environmental performance.
In May, President Lagarde spoke in Frankfurt (see EUROPE 13175/9) and in the European Parliament (see EUROPE 13194/16) of the need to consider how to compensate for this mechanism, given that the ECB will be ceasing reinvestments under its asset purchase programme in July.
Further information: https://aeur.eu/f/886 (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)