Editor's note

Welcome to our October edition!
The UN Paris Climate Agreement, signed in 2015, offers 2050 as a target for publicly listed companies to prove how serious they are about limiting greenhouse gas emissions. In this edition, produced on the eve of the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, we ask: What progress have bank asset financiers made to meet the Paris Agreement targets?

Fortunately, the Rainforest Action Network has already done the legwork for us. In March this year, it reported that the world’s 60 largest commercial and investment banks have invested $3.8trn in fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement were signed. We’ve distilled the findings from the network’s Banking on Climate Chaos 2021 report to bring out what it says about French bank lessors – BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Société Générale, Groupe BPCE and Credit Mutuel. Why French banks? Their relative strength within the European banking family is one reason, the second is the high brand recognition and visibility of its leasing divisions.

The alarming statistics cited in this feature bring into question the relationship between the banking parent and its equipment leasing subsidiary, and to the extent that the parent continues to be significantly investing in fossil fuels: what role exists for leasing executives to speak up?

Also, two articles by trade representatives from the UK’s Finance & Leasing Association and Leaseurope also pick up on COP26 themes.

Another feature, by lawyers from Morton Fraser, considers the key differences between Scottish and English law when it comes to asset finance. We also look at the Balkan nations to reveal how responsible government management has improved the prospects for business financing as the spectre of Covid remains as we head into the winter months.

Alejandro Gonzalez, Editor