Climate change entails risks to the global economy and impacts financial stability. Beyond managing related risks, the financial sector can also contribute to the transition toward a net-zero economy. Guided by the ECB’s climate and nature plan, this paper discusses the methodology and key findings of statistical indicators developed in three areas: sustainable finance, carbon emissions, and physical risk. Our work aims to enhance data transparency in climate change analysis, while informing monetary policy, financial stability and banking supervision. The indicators we have developed focus on the euro area financial sector and are built from harmonised granular datasets. They also utilise climate information from public sources to the extent possible.The sustainable finance metrics are built on well-established securities statistics and are at a more mature stage of development when compared with the other two climate risk indicators. While there are several data gaps that need to be addressed, the proposed statistical methodology offers a valuable framework for assessing climate risks in the European context, ensuring comparability across countries, time frames and under various climate scenarios. This paper discusses the methodology, underlying data, and findings for each set of indicators, while also flagging possible constraints and opportunities for future development.
Nothing contributes so much to the prosperity and happiness of a country as high profits