Crédit Agricole supported Swedish steelmaker SSAB to raise 2.3 billion euros for a fossil-free steel project. 

We welcome Crédit Agricole concrete steps towards steel decarbonisation, especially in a time when investment in fossil-free steel is falling. Bloomberg NEF recently reported that investment in clean steel projects plummeted to $17.3 billion in 2024—down 57% from 2023’s $40.2 billion. 

While we’re glad to see Crédit Agricole put its money where its decarbonisation targets are… the bank still has a long way to go, especially with its less ambitious clients like ArcleorMittal and POSCO. Last May, Crédit Agricole actually removed ESG conditions from a loan to ArcelorMittal. Additionally, the bank continues to provide unrestricted finance to POSCO despite its plans to prolong the use of its coal-fired furnaces into the 2040s. 

Crédit Agricole can’t just provide green finance to ambitious clients while turning a blind eye to clients that are actively expanding and prolonging the use of coal in steelmaking. It must treat phasing out coal as a necessity in it’s lending decisions to the steel sector, not a bonus.

We’re calling on Credit Agricole to: 

• Set a credible and ambitious sustainable finance target for the steel sector. Including clear definitions of green steel, with social and environmental risk factors included in transition technologies 

• Phase out finance for companies that are expanding and prolonging the use of coal in steelmaking

• Immediately end finance for companies that are expanding the mining of metallurgical coal.