France is Europe’s biggest supporter of ‘carbon bomb’ projects, data shows

French banks have financed €144bn to firms running biggest fossil fuel projects since 2015 climate pact

The carbon bombs are the 425 biggest fossil fuel extraction projects in the world. Beneath them, there is enough coal, oil and gas to burn through humanity’s carbon budget to stay within 1.5C four times over, experts say.

France is Europe’s biggest supporter of “carbon bomb” extraction projects that hold enough fossil fuels to pump out more than a gigaton of CO2 each.

Since world leaders gathered in the French capital to sign the Paris agreement in 2015 — where they promised to try to stop the planet heating by 1.5C above pre-industrial levels — French banks have financed companies planning or operating carbon bombs amounting to $154bn (€144bn).