Chief Risk Officer, Groupe BPCE
“BPCE’s Risk Department boasts pioneering status in the management of climate risks with consideration of these issues as early as 2016, the creation of a dedicated department in 2019, and the organization of a network of correspondents in all Groupe BPCE entities by 2020. The governance system is also exemplary, with a Climate Risks Committee chaired by the Chairman of the Management Board and attended by senior executives from the Banques Populaires and the Caisses d’Epargne. The management of both physical and transition climate risks is leading us to enhance our credit risk policies and our financial risk mechanisms (liquidity reserve, etc.) to be aligned with the best practices in the management of these risks as was the case, for example, during the climate stress test pilot exercise run by the ACPR in France. Our distinguishing feature will be the quality of the data at our disposal and, consequently, the quality of information about our customers with whom we enjoy extremely close relationships through our regional banking networks and Natixis, in addition to the use of simple risk-management methods and tools.”
3 - Integration of climate-related risks into risk management
The European Central Bank recalled in its Guide on climate-related and environmental risks published in November 2020 that “physical and transition risks are drivers of existing risk.” The Risk Department has consequently set up a reference framework dedicated to climate risks as part of its risk management procedures, adopting a forward-looking vision over a long-term time horizon while simultaneously depending on short-term actions.