ECB Consults on Guide for Managing Climate and Environmental Risks
ECB launched consultation on a guide specifying how the Banking Supervision expects banks to consider climate-related and environmental risks in their governance and risk management frameworks and when formulating and implementing their business strategy. The guide also outlines how ECB expects banks to become more transparent by enhancing their climate-related and environmental disclosures. The consultation on this guide ends on September 25, 2020. ECB expects that comments on this consultation document will provide valuable input for the finalization of the guide, which it then intends to also use in the supervisory dialog.
The guide aims to raise industry awareness of climate-related and environmental risks and to improve the management of such risks. The guide explains that ECB expects significant banks to use (stress) scenarios to assess if climate-related and environmental risks are material with regard to their business strategy and to inform their decisions. Furthermore, ECB expects institutions with material climate-related and environmental risks to evaluate whether their bank-internal stress testing is appropriate, with a view to incorporating those risks in their baseline and adverse scenarios. ECB wants banks to account for these risks, given that they drive existing prudential risk categories and can substantially impact the real economy and banks. Banks are expected to assess whether their current practices are safe and prudent in the light of the expectations and, if necessary, to start adapting them.
The guide was drafted in close cooperation with the national competent authorities to ensure that high supervisory standards are applied consistently across the euro area. It also draws on the experience gained from assessing banks’ current practices and their approaches to climate-related and environmental risks. The guide is designed to fit within the boundaries of applicable EU and national law. It aims to foster banks’ preparedness for managing climate-related and environmental risks under current prudential rules, in accordance with the EC Action plan on financing sustainable growth and the EBA Action plan on sustainable finance. ECB acknowledged that banks face significant challenges as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the immediate attention of ECB is on the pandemic, it remains committed to further advancing the management and disclosure of climate-related and environmental risks in the banking sector.
Related Links
Keywords: Europe, EU, Banking, ESG, Sustainable Finance, Climate Change Risk, Disclosures, Stress Testing, CRD, Basel, ECB
Featured Experts
Emil Lopez
Credit risk modeling advisor; IFRS 9 researcher; data quality and risk reporting manager
James Partridge
Credit analytics expert helping clients understand, develop, and implement credit models for origination, monitoring, and regulatory reporting.
Nihil Patel
Data scientist; SaaS product designer; credit portfolio analyst and product strategist; portfolio modeler; correlation researcher
Related Articles
EBA Proposes Standards for IRRBB Reporting Under Basel Framework
The European Banking Authority (EBA) proposed implementing technical standards on the interest rate risk in the banking book (IRRBB) reporting requirements, with the comment period ending on May 02, 2023.
FED Issues Further Details on Pilot Climate Scenario Analysis Exercise
The U.S. Federal Reserve Board (FED) set out details of the pilot climate scenario analysis exercise to be conducted among the six largest U.S. bank holding companies.
US Agencies Issue Several Regulatory and Reporting Updates
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FED) adopted the final rule on Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act.
ECB Issues Multiple Reports and Regulatory Updates for Banks
The European Central Bank (ECB) published an updated list of supervised entities, a report on the supervision of less significant institutions (LSIs), a statement on macro-prudential policy.
HKMA Keeps List of D-SIBs Unchanged, Makes Other Announcements
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) published a circular on the prudential treatment of crypto-asset exposures, an update on the status of transition to new interest rate benchmarks.
EU Issues FAQs on Taxonomy Regulation, Rules Under CRD, FICOD and SFDR
The European Commission (EC) adopted the standards addressing supervisory reporting of risk concentrations and intra-group transactions, benchmarking of internal approaches, and authorization of credit institutions.
CBIRC Revises Measures on Corporate Governance Supervision
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) issued rules to manage the risk of off-balance sheet business of commercial banks and rules on corporate governance of financial institutions.
HKMA Publications Address Sustainability Issues in Financial Sector
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) made announcements to address sustainability issues in the financial sector.
EBA Updates Address Basel and NPL Requirements for Banks
The European Banking Authority (EBA) published regulatory standards on identification of a group of connected clients (GCC) as well as updated the lists of identified financial conglomerates.
ESMA Publishes 2022 ESEF XBRL Taxonomy and Conformance Suite
The General Board of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), at its December meeting, issued an updated risk assessment via the quarterly risk dashboard and held discussions on key policy priorities to address the systemic risks in the European Union.
