On Thursday, ECB President Christine Lagarde presented nine points with which the central bank intends to gradually become “greener” between 2021 and 2024.

The environmental protection organization Greenpeace, which landed on the ECB building with hang gliders to demand more climate protection, calls the changes quite “substantial” - but the stipulations are still somewhat “vague” and the schedule “too wait and see”.

Christian Siedenbiedel

Editor in business.

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    Greenpeace finance expert Mauricio Vargas says two points are likely to hurt climate-damaging companies in particular: On the one hand, the central bank wants to examine the extent to which its previous criteria for monetary policy bond purchases favor climate-damaging companies because, for example, the volume of outstanding bonds plays a role.

    This year this is to be examined and changed next year with better criteria.

    On the other hand, the ECB wants to persuade the rating agencies to include physical climate risks such as the seaside location of a city and transitory risks such as a possible ban on internal combustion engines more in the bond ratings.

    From the middle of next year onwards, corresponding requirements could be included in the “Eurosystem Credit Assessment Framework”.

    New indicators and models

    Climate risks should already be taken into account in the CSPP corporate bond purchase program.

    With regard to the collateral framework for business with banks, the information is vague, criticized Vargas.

    What is clear, however, is the mandate to the banking supervisory authority to pay more attention to climate risks for financial institutions.

    “Disclosure” of climate risks is a key keyword in the plan: the ECB wants to coordinate closely with the EU here.

    From 2024 onwards, companies will have to disclose their climate risks in a binding manner if they still want to be part of the ECB's bond purchase program.

    Greenpeace calls this good, but believes that the “double materiality” of climate risks is not taken into account: The ECB pursues risks posed by the environment for companies, but not risks posed by companies for the environment.

    The ECB intends to take various steps to better assess climate risks.

    This includes special macroeconomic projections and models that are to be implemented in stages by 2024.

    She also wants to develop new indicators with which the consequences of climate change can be better recorded statistically.

    The full plan can be found on the ECB's website: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2021/html/ecb.pr210708_1_annex~f84ab35968.en.pdf