The first stress test by Europe's banking regulator on climate risks was primarily intended to raise awareness among banks.
That seems necessary, after all, the well-known HSBC banker Stuart Kirk has just questioned whether it is the task of the financial markets to take care of the climate.
One can only answer Kirk: Whose job is it?
Should government spending programs and KfW alone transform the economy?
No, the state is not the better entrepreneur.
More private capital must be mobilized, but this is not a sure-fire success.
Commercial banks then direct more loans into sustainable projects if they get incentives to do so.
In this respect, it is good if the ECB is testing banks to see whether they take climate risk into account when lending.
One may regret that only 20 percent are currently doing this.
But standards for green investments are only just emerging, and Deutsche Bank, with its fund company DWS, which has been accused of greenwashing, can sing a song about it.
Banking supervisors should therefore slowly tighten the climate thumbscrews and by no means relax them.
The banks must also do more for the climate.