Climate action

  • The ECB has developed a climate roadmap.

  • The ECB has committed to incorporate climate considerations in its corporate sector purchase programme.

  • The ECB is conducting the first Europe-wide climate risk stress tests.

  • ECB policymakers have signalled the central bank will consider climate risk in its calculation of banks’ capital requirements.

Climate inaction

  • The ECB’s corporate sector asset purchases and collateral framework have been found to have a bias towards high-carbon companies.

  • The ECB’s refinancing operations are considered to be climate-blind, therefore undermining the EU’s climate goals.

  • The ECB has not given its support to adjusting Pillar 1 capital requirements to align financial flows with the green transition.

  • The ECB has not integrated climate risks into its own internal credit ratings.

How the European Central Bank stacks up

Rank Country Aggregate Score (out of 130) Grade (A+ to F) Research and Advocacy (out of 10) Monetary Policy (out of 50) Financial Policy (out of 50) Leading by Example (out of 20)
4 European UnionEuropean Union 58 C 10 12 28 8

Central Bank/Supervisor

European Central Bank and European Banking Authority

More info


Research & Advocacy

10 out of 10

High-impact

  • N/A

Medium-impact

  • ECB and EBA are NGFS memers

Low-impact

Monetary Policy

12 out of 50

High-impact

  • N/A

Medium-impact

Low-impact

  • Advanced ESG data model in the Centralised Securities Database, identifying all types of sustainable bonds; will rank sustainability level as “self labelled”, “verified by a second party” and “fully certified”

  • ECB accepts sustainability-linked bonds as collateral

  • ECB will make environmental sustainability disclosures a condition of eligibility in collateral purchases (formal commitment, implementation in 2026)

  • ECB will make environmental sustainability disclosures a condition of eligibility in the corporate sector purchase programme (formal commitment, implementation in Q1 2023)

  • ECB purchased green bonds under both the corporate and public sector purchase programmes

  • Climate change risks incorporated into haircuts applied to corporate bonds used as collateral (under discussion at ECB)

  • Eurosystem will implement a set of common minimum standards detailing how national central banks’ in-house credit assessment systems should include climate-related risks in their ratings (formal commitment, implementation in 2024)

Financial Policy

28 out of 50

High-impact

  • Climate-related quantitative and qualitative restrictions on banks’ portfolios (under discussion at ECB)

Medium-impact

Low-impact

Leading by Example

8 out of 20

High-impact

  • N/A

Medium-impact

  • N/A

Low-impact

What steps are missing in the European Central Bank toolbox to address climate risk?

Civil society expects the bank to do the following:

  • Replace ‘market neutrality’ with a new benchmark aligned with the EU environmental policies and commitments.

  • Fully decarbonise its collateral framework and asset purchases.

  • Adjust its refinancing operations in line with climate goals.

  • Integrate climate risks into its own internal credit ratings for collateral and asset purchases.

  • Support development and implementation of prudential measures to align financial flows with the 1.5°C targets of the Paris Agreement.