Banks and Climate-Related Information: The Case of Portugal

Abstract

In 2014, a European Union (EU) Directive required certain large undertakings and groups to disclose non-financial information from 2017 onwards. In 2017, the EU guidelines on non-financial reporting established that reporting climate-related information is part of the non-financial information. Later, in 2019, the guidelines were reinforced to include a supplement that envisages improving climate-related information reporting. Banks can contribute to reducing climate-related risks by supporting investments in economic activities that aim to mitigate the risk of climate change. Capital needs should be reoriented towards sustainable investment. Banks shall manage financial risks arising from climate change; therefore, they must integrate climate change into their policies and procedures, assessing the potential impact of projects and financing on climate change. This study aimed to evaluate how banks in Portugal have been reporting climate-related information and whether the level of information has increased since 2017. Using content analysis, findings indicated that banks are already including climate-related information; however, they are still far from approaching what the new guidelines require. Results suggested that there is still a long way to go in this area concerning banks and regulators.

Effect of Viroc Conduct under Compression on the Mechanical Characteristics of Sustainable Materials

“…The mechanical characteristics of sustainable concrete using Viroc aggregates are examined in this work. The findings demonstrate that while the flexural strength of the concrete increases as the Viroc level decreases, the compressive strength and elastic modulus do not [12].…”

Informações Financeiras sobre os Riscos Relacionados ao Clima: Uma Revisão Sistemática

“…Scholten et al (2020) compararam quatro empresas do setor de energia e descobriram que elas não contabilizam as possíveis alterações causadas pelas mudanças climáticas em seus ativos de produção. Proposições de novas metodologias para avaliar o alinhamento das práticas de divulgação das organizações com as orientações da TCFD são discutidas (Demaria & Rigot, 2021;Leicht & Leicht, 2022;Santos & Rodrigues, 2021;Siew, 2020;Wedari et al, 2021). Por meio do Climate Compliance Index (CCI), desenvolvido e aplicado na França, foi constatado um aumento gradual nas divulgações, apesar de divergências entre setores e áreas de gestão (Demaria & Rigot, 2021).…”

“…Por meio do Climate Compliance Index (CCI), desenvolvido e aplicado na França, foi constatado um aumento gradual nas divulgações, apesar de divergências entre setores e áreas de gestão (Demaria & Rigot, 2021). Bancos de Portugal, apesar de já incluírem informações financeiras relacionadas com o clima em suas divulgações, tem um longo caminho pela frente (Santos & Rodrigues, 2021). Outros bancos europeus analisados atingiram um nível intermediário de adequação, e a existência de comitês de responsabilidade social corporativa dedicados a questão da sustentabilidade é um diferencial em termos de divulgação (Cosma et al, 2022).…”

How does the research community contribute to corporate climate‐related risk disclosures? The gap between ideals and reality

“…Due to the high complexity of management dilemmas arising from the interaction of various risks, the difficulty of dealing with extreme physical and transition risks associated with extreme uncertainty, and the nonlinearity and cascading effects (known as “green swans”) as mentioned in the field of financial stability regulation (Bolton et al, 2020), observers have gradually come to view both physical risk and transition risk in more macroscopic, comprehensive and integrated frameworks (Calice & Miguel, 2021; de Galhau, 2019; Santos & Rodrigues, 2021), such as the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS). International rating agencies have recently begun to consider climate and disaster risks and related risk management practices in their sovereign, municipal and corporate credit ratings.…”