The BNP Paribas Group has pledged to no longer work with companies whose main activities relate to shale gas or tar sands.

The French banking giant said that includes the transportation or export of shale oil and gas.

It is part of the French banking giant’s efforts to tackle climate change and supports its previous decisions to reduce financing for coal-fired power generation and increase its renewable energy investment to €15 billion (£13.5bn) by 2020.

The company has also set aside €100 million (£89.7bn) for start-ups working on innovative solutions for the low carbon energy transition.

CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafé said: “We’re a long-standing partner to the energy sector and we’re determined to support the transition to a more sustainable world. As an international bank, our role is to help drive the energy transition and contribute to the decarbonisation of the economy.”