Governance, risk & compliance


Investing in a carbon-neutral future


Climate change is on everyone’s lips, but what does it mean for fi nancial institutions? Banks are looking closely at the risks it poses and some, including ING, are taking bold steps to quantify and mitigate them. With a new working group on climate change, yearly progress reports, and a so- called ‘Terra Approach’ to encourage sustainable banking, ING is seeing a tangible impact on its business. Jim Banks talk to Anne-Sophie Castelnau, the Dutch bank’s new head of sustainability, as well as a representative of the European Banking Authority, to explore the unique nature of climate risk and how it will affect banks’ activities.


– and whether it’s even genuine. Nevertheless, consensus is building around two key concepts: that climate change is actually real and that it’s caused, at least in part, by human activity. The Sixth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published in 2021, casts human-influenced climate


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limate change can be a divisive topic. A quick search online will reveal wildly different ideas about its underlying causes


change as a major threat to the environment, bringing risks of rising sea levels, melting glaciers, heatwaves, droughts and flooding. The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2021, for its part, highlights the potentially disastrous impact on biodiversity. Both emphasise that concerted global action is needed – fast.


Regulators have been quick to act on carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases. The EU, for example, has now enshrined its net-zero carbon


Future Banking / www.nsbanking.com


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