The Banking Lab analyses the role of financial institutions in the fight against climate change

Last Monday, 17 February, the Spanish Banking and Finance Institute (IEBF, for its acronym in Spanish) recently held a new Banking Lab session on “The role of financial institutions in the fight against climate change”. During the session, the speakers highlighted the following key ideas:

• The financial industry plays an important role in the defence of the climate agenda, well beyond mere funding.
• The document "Financial leadership in the fight against climate change", drafted for the IEBF, highlights the areas where the financial sector plays a key role, such as strategy, governance, incentives, training, climate risk, business, product development and decarbonisation, among others. 
• Information is essential to manage climate and environmental risk adequately, in order to ensure stability for the financial system.
• Sustainability must be approached using a pragmatic business logic, to improve corporate competitiveness and create economic growth.
• Financing the transition requires a capital transformation and reallocation that can only be comprehensive and thorough if it makes financial sense. Innovation must aim to democratise sustainability, and only by making it profitable will it become universal.

The session, held in the Auditorium of CUNEF Universidad, was attended by Luis Maldonado, Ph.D., State Economist and Trade Expert, Juan Carlos Delrieu, Head of the ESG Office at Banco de España, Lara de Mesa, Global Head of Sustainability at Banco Santander, and Antoni Ballabriga, Global Head of Sustainability Intelligence at BBVA. It was chaired by Pedro Guerrero, Head of European Affairs and Strategy at the Spanish Banking Association (AEB).