Interview with Prof. Patrick Velte – “Climate crises cannot be talked away.”

The problem has been postponed, but not eliminated. Climate risks cannot be dismissed simply because regulations to reduce bureaucracy are now being introduced. This is clearly evident from the behavior of capital market participants, who often already take these environmental risks into account very carefully when making lending decisions or consulting contracts in the insurance sector. The capital market, for example, has long recognized that a climate risk can quickly turn into an operational financial risk. If, for example, prolonged rainfall causes severe flooding that also affects industrial or commercial infrastructure, this creates a very basic business and financing risk. Against this backdrop, banks expect certain ESG information when granting loans, as do insurance companies when issuing insurance policies. I believe that considerable market pressure is already being generated, which may continue regardless of the results of the Omnibus Project. Whether or not the EU Commission removes certain reporting requirements, if the capital market requests certain information, companies will have to provide this sustainability information, even if it is not required by law under the Omnibus reporting requirements.