The affair was revealed by a consortium of journalists called Voxeurop, which includes Mediapart, IrpiMedia (Italy), and El Pais (Spain). They discovered that a total of 50 billion euros from so-called "green" funds were invested in the defense sector under the guidance-and with the clear intention-of the European Commission. Some of these weapons are involved in the war in Gaza, while others await future conflicts... Before weapons, billions were also poured into the most polluting companies, such as Total and its ilk.
The Theory
To understand what green funds are, a little background is necessary. They are a means of financing the "ecological transition," created in 2021 with the adoption by the European Union of the Green Deal, which is supposed to make the EU a "climate-neutral zone" by 2050. The amount of CO2 emitted serves as the benchmark. This new "green" label was intended to improve transparency for savers. These funds are divided into two categories: "Article 8" funds, also called "light green," where a portion of the assets must be eco-responsible; and "Article 9" or "dark green" funds, which are stricter because they must all be environmentally and socially sustainable. Simple, right? Except that Brussels refuses to define what constitutes a "sustainable investment." The judgment is left to the bankers themselves or to rating agencies, which decree a company's ecological or social value.
The farce is astounding and has even alarmed the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF), which declared in 2023 that "it is crucial, in order to reduce greenwashing, that the European Commission" tighten the rules and that there be "minimum standards, and that regulations clearly define what constitutes a sustainable investment." The heart of this greenwashing lies in a rating system reminiscent of a high school diploma from 1968! In these rating systems, environmental criteria count for only a small portion, allowing investment in companies that, while polluting, are highly rated for social responsibility and "governance."
And even for the "environmental emissions" aspect, the subterfuges are numerous. First, only the company's direct emissions are taken into account; indirect emissions are ignored. Thus, the rating agency MSCI considers TotalEnergies to be meeting the Paris Agreement target (2°C warming) because it does not include emissions generated by the combustion of the oil and gas produced by TotalEnergies. Second, carbon intensity is measured, not gross CO2 emissions. This intensity is calculated as follows: emissions divided by revenue.
The Practice
As we can see, green funds are immediately configured to serve capitalism as it currently exists and as it is most profitable. Thus, from 2021 to 2024, $33 billion was invested in the 25 oil companies most harmful to the climate (TotalEnergies, ENI, Shell, etc.); $20 billion was invested in automotive companies (Toyota, Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, General Motors, etc.); $14 billion in fashion companies, including fast-fashion leaders like Zara and H&M; $9 billion in aerospace; and even $623 million in coal. The Transition is looking good.
Another promising sector is arms dealers, even though initially, bankers were hesitant to invest in a sector so far removed from "sustainable." But this doesn't take into account the aggressive lobbying of the arms industry and also the completely changing international context in Europe with Russia's attack on Ukraine starting in February 2022. The European Commission is preparing for war. In its strategy presentation document, dated November 2024, the technocrats declare: "The defense industry[...]makes an essential contribution to the resilience and security of the Union, and therefore to peace and social sustainability. In this context, the EU's sustainable financing framework is fully consistent with the Union's efforts to facilitate access to financing for the European defense industry." QED. The bankers quickly get the message and open the floodgates to arms manufacturers.
The figures speak for themselves: since 2022, green funds' investments in the arms industry have more than tripled, reaching EUR49.8 billion by the end of June 2025. And this is paying off, as in 2025, 800 funds made EUR7 billion in profits. Quite a bargain! Among the biggest investors are the well-known US investment fund BlackRock (EUR3 billion), followed by the German firm DWS (EUR2.4 billion) and the American Capital Group (EUR1.8 billion). Crédit Agricole is in fourth place (EUR1.7 billion), and other French banks also involved include Eleva Capital, Crédit Mutuel, and the BPCE group, which includes Banque Populaire and Caisse d'Épargne.
These "green" investments benefited 104 companies linked to the arms industry - including the European leaders (see graph) - primarily the French company Safran (EUR5.6 billion), which manufactures drones and "precision" bombs, but also other major groups like Rolls-Royce, Rheinmetall, and Airbus, which are known for being very low CO2 emitters (sic). As for the socially responsible aspect, one should ask the Gazans who have been hit by bombs fired from the M109 howitzer, partly manufactured by the German company Rheinmetall, while Rolls-Royce supplies components for Israeli tanks. Finally, 25 green funds directly invested EUR23 million in the defense company Elbit Systems, a key cog in the Israeli military-industrial complex responsible for the genocide of the Palestinians.
Margat, January 2026
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4630
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Link: (en) France, OCL CA #357 - When Ecology Is Used to Finance Pollution and Weapons (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]
Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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