17 June, 2025

Three major French financial institutions, including two of the country’s largest banks and the state’s public investment arm, have announced their rejection of deep sea mining during the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) last week in Nice.

The three institutions are:

• BNP Paribas - France’s largest and Europe’s second largest bank. BNP Paribas confirms it does not invest in deep sea mining projects due to the intrinsic environmental and social risks involved.
• Crédit Agricole - The second largest bank in France and the world's largest cooperative financial institution. Crédit Agricole stated it will not finance deep sea mining projects until it has been proven that such operations pose no significant harm to marine ecosystems.
• Groupe Caisse des Dépôts - The public investment arm of the French Government, which also holds a majority stake in La Banque Postale. The Group has pledged to exclude all financing and investment in companies whose main activity is deep sea mining, as well as in deep sea mining projects.

Amundi Asset Management also made a statement that it seeks to avoid investment in companies “involved in deep sea mining and/or exploration”.

This now brings to 24 the number of financial institutions who exclude deep sea mining in some form.

Deep Sea Mining Campaign Finance Advocacy Officer Andy Whitmore says: “This is a truly significant outcome from UNOC. Until recently no French financiers had matched their Government’s position calling for a ban. This UN Ocean Conference, co-hosted by France, was the perfect opportunity for the most important national players to step up and be counted”

These financial announcements are a sign of global concern pushing itself on to the agenda. World leaders renewed calls for a global moratorium on the dangerous industry, with French President Emmanuel Macron denouncing it as “madness”, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres responding to recent announcements from President Trump by warning that the deep sea “cannot become the Wild West.” Slovenia, Latvia, Cyprus and the Marshall Islands also announced their support for a moratorium or precautionary pause, bringing the number of like-minded countries to 37.

Andy Whitmore concluded “the events at UNOC have added further momentum to the financial establishment rejecting deep sea mining. The recent unseemly rush to mine is creating push-back from the financial world, as much as from governments and civil society.”

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