The European Central Bank (ECB) added fossil fuel assets to its guarantee systems in the last year, which critics argue provides more favourable financing for high-carbon emitting companies.
In a report from non-profits Reclaim Finance and Urgewald, researchers found a total of nine fossil fuel companies – including Total Energies, BP and Eni – representing nearly €13bn have been added to the ECB’s guarantee system since July 2024. The study’s findings were similar to a 2024 report which found the ECB was indirectly supporting fossil fuel companies.
“The ECB has said it wants to green its operations, but in reality it is supporting some of the most polluting energy companies in Europe,” said Clarisse Murphy, central bank campaigner at Reclaim Finance.
The ECB’s collateral framework allows banks to pledge assets such as corporate bonds to guarantee loans. Eligible assets are determined by EU national central banks under the criteria set out by the Eurosystem legal framework and follow specific guidelines, including ones for climate change risk.
The ECB set out to green its collateral framework in 2021 but in July 2024 delayed changes to its collateral pool which would have limited assets from high-emitting firms.
An ECB spokesperson said this was “because the necessary technical preconditions to do so – in particular as regards climate data availability – are not yet in place, hence not ensuring a robust implementation of such measure[s].”
They said the central bank is exploring other approaches to incorporate climate considerations in the framework and “continues to work towards better disclosure of any financial assets which we own or accept as collateral”.
While more climate data was expected due to the EU’s sustainable reporting rules, the sustainable omnibus directive has delayed that data and could limit the scope of companies required to disclose emissions.
There is a lack of data on structured finance products like bonds and asset-backed securities in the EU. Many economists, regulators and climate scientists have said the climate data gap is one of the challenges facing financial institutions.
With the ECB’s monetary strategy review coming to a close in July 2025, Reclaim Finance and Urgewald urged the ECB to uphold its promise to green its monetary policy instruments.
“It is time the ECB stopped jeopardising the transition to a sustainable future by ending its support for coal and for oil and gas expansion,” said Murphy.
This page was last updated April 25, 2025
Written by
Moriah Costa is the Editor-in-Chief of Green Central Banking and has over a decade of experience writing about banking and finance. She is an award-winning American journalist based in Paris and has written for major international publications, including Reuters, The Guardian, and S&P Global. Having grown up in water-stressed Arizona, she has always had a strong interest in bringing awareness to climate and environmental issues.
