EBA’s new guidelines offer a beacon of hope amid regulatory uncertainty

11 February 2025 - Op-ed - By : Natasha CHAUDHARY

While several North American banks exit the voluntary NZBA (Net Zero Banking Alliance), European banks must bolster their climate risk frameworks. The European Banking Authority’s (EBA) recently published guidelines on ESG risk management offer a beacon of hope amidst the turmoil that currently surrounds the EU’s sustainable finance regulations. These guidelines are encouraging in both substance and form, reflecting prudential supervisors’ commitment to aligning the banking sector with the bloc’s climate and sustainability goals.

 

The most notable takeaway is the requirement to ‘develop a single, comprehensive strategic planning process’ that meets all regulatory and business needs to prepare for the transition. Banks should leverage this holistic approach to ensure consistent transition plans whether for prudential or regulatory purposes (such as CSRD and CSDDD). The need for consistency – a point already reiterated by I4CE – also fuels the debate on the upcoming omnibus ‘simplification’ regulation through which the European Commission (EC) aims to reduce firms’ sustainability reporting requirements by 25%.

 

Read more on Net Zero Investor

To learn more
  • 04/10/2025
    Transition plans and remuneration policies: what are the challenges for financial actors?

    Integrating climate indicators into variable remuneration is a burning issue. Although it was removed at the last minute from negotiations on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the proposal is still very much alive in the policy debate . While the topic is becoming increasingly central to remuneration in large companies, it still appears to be a taboo within the banking sector. This requirement was already included in the European Central Bank’s supervisory guidelines as early as 2020, yet it appears to have been largely neglected by banks.

  • 03/21/2025 Foreword of the week
    Adaptation finance in the EU: what role for insurers and other private financial institutions?

    The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has committed to presenting a European Climate Adaptation Plan in 2026. The European Commission has previously emphasised public budgets as the main source of coverage for climate-related disasters. But if both the EU’s and member states’ budgets are strained by competing investment priorities and high debt levels in some cases, what are the complementary avenues for financing adaptation in the EU? How can private financial actors, such as banks, insurance companies or asset management firms, support adaptation efforts, not only to ensure resilience (i.e. recovery) from climate disasters, but also to prevent impacts before they arrive?

  • 03/20/2025
    The adaptation of real estate: what roles can the financial sector play?

    Premier état des lieux et pistes sur les banques, assureurs, gestionnaires d’actifs Un besoin de clarifier le rôle des banques, assureurs dommage et gestionnaires d’actifs dans l’adaptation de l’immobilier. Alors que les effets du changement climatique sont de plus en plus manifestes, les parties prenantes de l’immobilier doivent se préparer aux conséquences du réchauffement climatique qui pourrait atteindre, d’ici la fin du siècle en France, +4°C.

See all publications
Press contact Amélie FRITZ Head of Communication and press relations Email
Subscribe to our mailing list :
I register !
Subscribe to our newsletter
Once a week, receive all the information on climate economics
I register !
Fermer