Your bank is failing on climate responsibility.
Helios' customer deposits are controlled by Crédit Mutuel, so it receives the same rating as Crédit Mutuel.
Crédit Mutuel continues to finance expansion of fossil fuels. In 2023 alone, it lent $213M to new oil & gas projects.
It does have a strict exclusion policy for coal but its exclusion policy for oil & gas does not cover expansion.
It has measured greenhouse has emissions enabled by its lending and has set targets, so while it is moving in the right direction, its level of climate accountability falls short.
While you’ve been saving money for a home or a weekend get-away, your bank has likely been using your savings to lend to some very questionable fossil fuel friends.
Banks like this one have demonstrated that they're not interested in fighting in the climate crisis. While banks don't publish all of their lending information, we can see that this bank has positioned itself well to fund fossil fuels. We can also see its lack of interest in doing climate-positive things like measuring and disclosing its total emissions or stating that it doesn't fund fossil fuels. We've therefore given it our lowest rating.
The Paris Agreement set the goal to stay under 1.5°C of warming for very good reasons. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an increase of just a couple of degrees more could lead to "substantial species extinction, large risks to global and regional food security", and an inability to work outside — or even live — in some areas of the world. Our world will become unrecognizable as ocean dead zones, floods, and extreme weather fuel social and economic disruption.
Banks live and die on their reputations. Mass movements of money to fossil-free competitors puts those reputations at grave risk. By moving your money to a sustainable financial institution, you will:
Send a message to your bank that it must defund fossil fuels
Join a fast-growing movement of consumers standing up for their future
Take a critical climate action with profound effects