"BNP Paribas continues to write new blank cheques to the largest fossil fuel companies without setting any conditions for an oil-free, gas-free ecological transition," said Alexandre Poidatz, advocacy officer at Oxfam France.
In a statement sent to Reuters, BNP said it regretted the advocacy groups chose litigation over dialogue and that it could not stop all fossil-fuel financing right away.
"We're convinced that the ecological transition is the only viable path for the future of our economies," it said.
"We are focused on our fossil-fuel exit path, accelerating financing for renewable energies and supporting our customers, without whom the transition cannot be made."
No court in France has yet forced a firm to change its ways on the basis of this law.