Some euro zone banks may be fined after missing ECB climate goal

(Reuters)-05/06/2024

Some euro zone banks have fallen short of the European Central Bank’s climate-related goals and may face fines, a senior ECB supervisor said in an interview published on Wednesday.

The ECB has handed banks a list of deadlines for factoring in risks relating to climate change, from floods and droughts to a transition to new energy sources, into the way they do business.

But some banks have fallen behind schedule, Kerstin af Jochnick, a member of the ECB’s Supervisory Board, told Spanish newspaper Cinco Dias.

“We have notified a few banks that, based on our current assessment, they have not met the interim milestones, which means they face the prospect of having to pay a so-called pecuniary penalty,” af Jochnick said.