Download Financial Institutions: Preparing the Market for adapting to Climate

 ClimaBiz - Financial Institutions: Preparing
the Market for adapting to Climate Change
LIFE08 ENV/GR/000552
Project description Environmental issues Beneficiaries Administrative data R e a d m o r e Contact details:
Contact person: Sofia FRANTZI
Tel: +30 210 3739311
Fax: +30 210 3335429
Email: [email protected]
Project description:
Background
EU communication papers and IPCC reports have highlighted the adverse impact
that climate change will have on several economic sectors. It will also, however,
create new market opportunities. Piraeus Bank S.A. is a commercial bank with a
large clientele from all economic sectors. In general, it is acknowledged that a
client’s risks are also the bank’s risks. Efforts should thus be made to manage
these risks for the benefit of the clients, the financial institutions and the
business community as a whole. Objectives
The main goal of the ClimaBiz project was to trigger the adaptation of the
market to the risks and financial impacts of climate change. The ClimaBiz
project aimed to be the catalyst for measures that adapt the market to climate
change in Greece and other Member States – especially Bulgaria, Cyprus and
Romania). ClimaBiz was set up to inspire financial institutions in these countries
to focus climate change adaptation. Specific objectives of ClimaBiz project included: Identifying aspects of climate change (physical and regulatory) in southeast
Europe and prioritising risks and opportunities to be managed by Piraeus
Bank;
Quantifying climate change risks and opportunities, and valorising climate
adaptation solutions for companies;
Developing climate risk and climate adaptation management mechanisms
and integrating them into credit risk and business planning banking
systems – i.e. integrating the climate factor into the client evaluation
procedure of Piraeus Bank;
Developing an intensive training programme for Piraeus Bank employees on
how to identify the climate risks and opportunities presented by clients and
how to assist businesses to adapt to climate change;
Mobilising the branches of Piraeus Bank located across Greece to spread
know how on the risks, opportunities and adaptation solutions pertaining to
climate change for clients from all the economic sectors and the general
public;
Taking advantage of Piraeus Bank subsidiaries (Piraeus Bank Romania,
Piraeus Bank Bulgaria and Piraeus Bank Cyprus) to disseminate the project’s
objectives and assist them in developing their own mechanisms for
adaptation to climate change;
Running a Climate Adaptation Centre to ensure support for the climate
adaptation strategies of the Piraeus Bank branch network;
Monitoring the progress of clients’ adaptation to climate change, and as a
result the bank’s adaptation to climate change, and advertising/promoting
best climate adaptation business practices through Web portal;
Results
The ClimaBiz project identified the impact of and business opportunities
resulting from climate change in Greece and the surrounding region of Europe. It
also developed innovative tools (climate change risk assessment models) to
estimate in monetary terms the costs of climate change for businesses and the
necessary investment costs of adaptation. The project significantly increased the
internal capacity of the bank by training staff in various ways. The project
provided the necessary tools to bank employees to offer free consultation to
more than 4 500 companies across Greece, and more than 4 300 companies have
invested in climate adaptation solutions. A major success of the project was the development of the Climate Risk
Quantification Model. This model estimates in quantitative terms the climate
change risks associated with specific economic sectors, ‘sub-sectors’ and
companies due to existing or future regulations on climate change and the direct
financial losses or gains attributable to increased temperature, drought,
precipitation, extreme weather events and other parameters associated with
climate change. The climate risk is broken down into physical climate risk, direct
regulatory climate risk and indirect regulatory climate risk. Typical units or
clients have been created for different sector and sub-sectors, in order to
address the varying climate risk associated with all clients that belong to the
same sector, especially in the manufacturing industry. By knowing the turnover
of the client and the sub-sector to which the company belongs, the Climate Risk
Quantification Model can simulate the production profile and volume of this
company, as well as the materials used, the energy consumed, the products and
the production process. Consequently, the credit analyst can enter the annual
turnover of his client into the model and estimate all types of climate risks. turnover of his client into the model and estimate all types of climate risks. A number of supporting studies and activities were conducted: “Climate change
and Greek businesses: Risks and Opportunities”, which provides an overview of
climate change and its impacts in various Greek economy sectors; “Climate
change and business opportunities”, which estimates investment opportunities
arising from climate change in Greece; “Climate Change and the Financial Sector”,
which describes Piraeus Bank’s innovation regarding the estimation of climate
change impacts.
A scientific paper was published in the Journal of Environmental Planning and
Management. It describes in detail the methodology to estimate climate risk, as
implemented by the ClimaBiz project. It is one of the very few scientific papers
on the monetised estimation of climate change in financial institutions. Also within the project, Piraeus Bank created the Green Banking Portal, a site
where businesses and investors can network for green business. The Green
Banking Portal of Piraeus Bank: Presents the good practices adopted by organisations and/or businesses in
order to reduce their environmental footprint (e.g. lower energy
consumption by insulating buildings or by using special bulbs); Presents green businesses i.e. enterprises that produce/sell products or
provide services included in the green business sector;
Provides information about the policies and technologies developed by
organisations/businesses in order to adapt to climate change; Allows the exchange of opinions or expertise among organisations,
businesses and individuals through a specially designed forum; Network businesses that either are involved in the green business sector or
reduce their environmental footprint.
The project, moreover, developed three e-learning programmes for internal
capacity building in the bank.
Dissemination throughout the project duration was excellent. Three members of
the project team attended the UNFCCC COP18 in Doha, at which the project
manager gave an interview on RTCC TV channel.
The project was the first full-scale application of climate change adaptation by a
financial institution in Greece. The relevant tools (models) developed were
innovative; they integrated and assessed climate change related risk in monetary
terms of all economic sectors. Using these tools, the bank’s employees can easily
assess how businesses are affected by climate change and how they can adapt.
This service, which is provided for free to the bank's clients, is of value for the
thousands of small businesses that cannot afford to pay consultancies in order
to understand their risks from climate change. The developed approach was demonstrated on full scale in Piraeus Bank. It is
believed that the project results will be further developed and exploited in the
coming years since the Piraeus Bank is investing in the development of
climate-oriented business. The ClimaBiz approach can also serve as an example
for other financial institutions and policy makers in Europe. The incorporation of
the climate-related risk into the risk profile of clients will result in a much wider
green business conscience among the business community in Europe. It can also
assist banks in creating a much ‘healthier’ portfolio of clients. Also, the
application of such tools on a regional level can help regional authorities
calculate the total cost for adaptation of the local business community to climate
change policies and requirements. Such tools would be useful for the EU in the
development of funding schemes and policy and operational objectives for
st ructur al funds t arg et e d at l o w -c a r b o n e c o n o m i e s .
These tools are also financially useful for banks. Lowering the credit risk,
including the climate risk of a client, decreases potential losses for a bank and
improves the economy as a whole. For policy makers at all levels, this approach
can help calculate the necessary level of investments needed to reach a certain
level of climate change adaptation performance for all businesses in a particular
region.
Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report
and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).
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Environmental issues addressed:
Themes
Climate change Adaptation - Sectoral adaptation (industry-services)
Information - Governance - Environmental training - Capacity building
Information - Governance - Market based instruments
Keywords
climate change adaptation‚ financial instrument‚ climate protection‚ risk
management Natura 2000 sites
Not applicable
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Beneficiaries:
Coordinator
Type of organisation
Description
PIRAEUS BANK SA
Large enterprise
With its headquarters in Athens, Greece, and
Description
Partners
With its headquarters in Athens, Greece, and
more than 22 thousand employees in offices in
10 countries, mainly in SEE and Eastern
Mediterranean, Piraeus Bank Group offers a full
range of financial products and services to
approximately 7 million customers. FACE3TS Ltd, Greece WWF Greece Top
Administrative data:
Project reference
Duration
Total budget
EU contribution
Project location
LIFE08 ENV/GR/000552
11-JAN-2010 to 31-DEC -2012
1,854,140.00 €
924,445.00 €
Associated Bulgaria (BG)(Bulgaria Balgarija),Kypros
/ Kibris(Cyprus),Extra-Regio(Cyprus),Mediterr.
Cyprus (CY)(Cyprus),Anatoliki Makedonia,
Thraki(Ellas),Kentriki Makedonia(Ellas),Dytiki
Makedonia(Ellas),Thessalia(Ellas),Ipeiros(Ellas),Ionia
Nisia(Ellas),Dytiki Ellada(Ellas),Sterea
Ellada(Ellas),Peloponnisos(Ellas),Attiki(Ellas),Voreio
Aigaio(Ellas),Notio
Aigaio(Ellas),Kriti(Ellas),Associated
Romania(Romania)
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Read more:
Brochure
Brochure
Brochure
Leaflet
Leaflet
Title: "Green banking portal: Get into the green
business world" (1.21 MB) Year: 2012 No of
pages: 2 Title: "Climate change & Greek businesses:
Risks & opportunities (executive summary)"
(195KB) Year: 2012 Editor: Facets, Piraeus Bank,
WWF Greece No of pages: 1 Title: "Climate change and business
opportunities" (1.43MB) Author: Mirasgedis S.,
Hontou V., Sarafidis Y., Gakis N. Year: 2011
Editor: Facets, Piraeus Bank, WWF Greece No of
pages: 15 Title: "Climate drives business!" (2.7 MB)
Year: 2011 No of pages: 2 Title: "Climate drives business!" (Greek version)
Leaflet
Title: "Climate drives business!" (Greek version)
(4.4 MB) Year: 2011 No of pages: 2 Project web site
Project's website
Publication
Title: Layman report Year: 2013 No of pages: 12 Publication: After-LIFE
Title: After-LIFE Communication Plan
Communication Plan
Year: 2013 No of pages: 4 Publication: Book
Title: "Climate change and the financial sector"
(4.80MB) Author: Xenogianni F., Frantzi F.,
Kakavoulis N., et al. Year: 2012 Editor: Piraeus
Bank, Face3ts, WWF Greece No of pages: 74 Publication: Guidelines-Manual Title: "Kλιματική αλλαγή και ελληνικές
επιχειρήσεις : Kίνδυνοι και ευκαιρίες - Ένας
πρακτικός οδηγός για ελληνικούς
οργανισμούς και επιχειρήσεις" (5.16MB)
Year: 2011 No of pages: 46 Publication: Layman report
Title: Layman report (Greek version) Year: 2013
No of pages: 12 Publication: Technical report
Title: Project's Final technical report Year: 2013
No of pages: 79 Top
Project description Environmental issues Beneficiaries Administrative data R e a d m o r e