The European Central Bank (ECB) has published its first climate-related financial disclosures for its corporate sector and non-monetary policy portfolios.
According to ESG Today, the disclosures indicating progress towards the decarbonisation of the Eurosystem’s €385bn of corporate securities holdings.
The ECB’s new reports – which cover the Eurosystem’s security holdings as well as the central bank’s non-monetary policy portfolios, including its own funds portfolio and its staff pension fund – offer detail on the portfolio’s carbon footprint and climate risk exposure, as well as on climate-related governance, strategy and risk management.
The report found that the carbon intensity of the Eurosystem’s portfolio has fallen substantially over the past few years, with tonnes of CO2 per millions of Euro revenue falling by 30% between 2018 and 2022 to 262 tCO₂e.
While total portfolio Scope 1 and 2 emissions have climbed over the past few years, the growth was put down to an increase in portfolio assets.
The ECB linked the decrease in portfolio carbon intensity to drivers including the decarbonization efforts of issuers.
Moving forward, the ECB said that in addition to providing climate-related updates on the portfolios annually, it also aims to expand the scope of the disclosures to cover additional portfolios. The central bank also revealed that its governing council will consider setting decarbonization targets for its corporate sector portfolios.
ECB President Christine Lagarde said, ”These disclosures are a further piece of the puzzle in our efforts to contribute to fighting climate change. They give us a clear view of our progress in decarbonising our portfolios and, over time, they will help us to chart the most effective course towards the goals of the Paris Agreement.”
The ECB recently published a series of new statistical indicators aimed at helping to analyse climate-related risks in finance.
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