In October 2022, three NGOs (Notre Affaire à Tous, Les Amis de la Terre France and Oxfam France) gave formal notice to BNP Paribas and informed the bank of their intention to sue the company for failing to comply with the French "duty of vigilance" law. The 2017 law dictates that large companies take effective measures to prevent human rights abuses and environmental degradation throughout their operational activities.

The NGOs argue that BNP Paribas continues to support "the most aggressive companies responsible for developing new oil and gas fields and infrastructures", in violation of the duty of vigilance law. The NGOs also assert that BNP Paribas continues to engage in environmentally damaging activities despite scientific denunciation and international agreements, such as the Paris Agreement. For the NGOs, BNP Paribas' support for expanding hydrocarbon use contradicts the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit rising temperatures to under 2°C, and if possible 1.5°C, below pre-industrial levels.

BNP Paribas responded to the NGOs' announcement by emphasising that their three year horizon plan (which runs through 2025) is "compatible with the prospect of financing a carbon-neutral economy by 2050". The company also stated that it "has [itself] set the objective of financing renewable energies to the tune of 30 billion euros by 2025", and that the loans issued for extracting, producing and refining oil and gas only represented 1.3 percent of the credits issued by the bank at the end of 2021.

In February 2023, the NGOs announced the launch of their legal action against BNP Paribas. In response to the lawsuit, BNP Paribas declared that "it regretted the groups chose litigation over dialogue, and it said it could not stop all fossil fuel financing right away."

The NGOs' press kit is available here.