Climate change and the transition to a sustainable society are major and costly processes. Our new sustainable finance strategy specifies what we want to have achieved in four years’ time. By 2025, DNB wants to have sustainability integrated into all its tasks and into its own organisation - in collaboration with the sector, international organisations and sustainability experts. Implementation of the strategy will be coordinated by our new Sustainable Finance Office.
Sustainability risks are taken seriously in the Dutch financial sector. The sector is cooperating well in this area, for example within the Sustainable Finance Platform in the Netherlands which is used for exchanging knowledge and expertise, conducting research and initiating new projects. These activities cover various themes: climate risks, biodiversity loss, SDG impact measurement and mobilising sustainable finance.
We conduct research and provide advice to the government. A key priority of supervision is the financial sector's management of climate-related and environmental risks. We also aim to reduce carbon emissions from payments and ensure that payment systems are accessible to all. Where possible, we contribute to improving sustainability standards and regulations. In addition, we are committed to further greening the ECB's monetary policy. Furthermore, we are making our own investments and operations more sustainable in order to contribute to a sustainable economy.
We expect financial institutions to be aware of sustainability risks and to be able to manage them. We regularly investigate whether this is the case. We assess prospective board members for fitness and take their knowledge of sustainability into account. Furthermore, we will work together with financial institutions to find ways of putting sustainable finance on the map more effectively. For instance, by conducting pilots with the financial sector.
It is important that everyone has access to clear information about how sustainable companies are, and that polluting products are made more costly due to carbon pricing. Then it will be up to everyone to make their own informed choices, and it will really pay off to make sustainable alterations to your home or purchase an electric vehicle.
DNB seeks dialogue with all its stakeholders. If you have any questions or ideas, please send us an email
Dutch insurers and pension funds invest not only directly in listed equity and corporate bonds, but also indirectly via investment funds. New DNB figures on CO2 emissions of non-financial corporations relate to both types of investments and provide a more complete..
Read more Carbon footprint of Dutch insurers and pension funds in sharper focus
European companies that are big carbon emitters are paying higher and higher interest rates on the bonds they issue on financial markets. Indeed, investors are asking for an interest rate premium to compensate for the risks that emission-intensive companies are exposed to
Read more Carbon-intensive companies pay ever higher market interest rates
Effective investment in the United Nations’ sustainable development goals hinges on the possibility to measure the impact of such investments.
Read more SDG-related investment: overviews of impact measurement methods and data
The vast majority of homeowners in the Netherlands have sufficient savings or could take out a loan to make their home more climate-friendly. They can afford to upgrade their home insulation to energy label B and install a heat pump.
Read more Almost all Dutch homeowners able to finance climate measures
