The final event of
ESG-UPTAKE project funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, managed by the Reform and Investment Task Force and coordinated by
Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, has took place at the Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista. Over three years, the project has helped European financial supervisors turn sustainable finance regulation into day-to-day supervisory tools.
During the three-year project,
Ca’ Foscari led a partnership with the
Leibniz Institute SAFE in Frankfurt and the
Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), with support from the University of Zurich and the European Commission’s
Joint Research Centre (JRC). Around 25 experts assisted
11 supervisory authorities in 10 European countries across banking, capital markets and insurance.
“The project aimed to strengthen European supervisory authorities’ capacity to monitor and address ESG risks in the financial sector,” said
Monica Billio, Professor of Econometrics at Ca’ Foscari and project coordinator. “Support from research institutions helped national authorities in managing ESG risks, including climate-related risks, and adopting appropriate supervisory and support measures for the financial system and economy.”
Work was organised by sector:
banking was led by Ca’ Foscari under the scientific responsibility of Professor
Stefano Battiston;
insurance by WU with Professor
Irene Monasterolo; and
capital markets and asset management by SAFE with Professor
Loriana Pelizzon.
The project delivered more than
20 operational tools — quantitative models, methodologies, scenarios and supervisory checklists — which authorities can adapt and extend. The tools include: interactive spreadsheets to compute portfolio
financed emissions, exposure to high-risk sectors and gains and losses conditional to scenarios of energy transition and climate related hazards;
early-warning indicators for issuers and
CSRD double-materiality checks; comparisons of funds’
SFDR disclosures with actual portfolios to screen for
greenwashing; and guidance on
Solvency II catastrophe risks, climate scenarios and macro-financial models for insurers.
The tools enable in particular the national authorities to integrate in their supervisory framework the
Short-term Scenarios developed the
Network for Greening the Financial Sector (NGFS), in order to assess the resilience of banks, insurance companies and investment funds against individual and compound shocks related to either the energy transition and climate-related hazards.
The benefits of the project extend beyond supervisors. Better ESG risk measurement enables the financial system to
price risk more selectively, without penalising entire sectors, while recognising businesses — including SMEs — that invest in green technologies and adapt to climate-related hazards. This allows credit and capital to support a more competitive and resilient real economy.
A dedicated workstream focused on Italy’s
climate insurance protection gap, one of Europe’s widest. The work included a national household survey, quantification of the gap under different climate scenarios and its fiscal and financial impacts, using a macro-financial model calibrated for Italy, and policy recommendations.
The event, with the opening by
Christina Dede (SG REFORM, European Commission) and
Monica Billio (Ca’ Foscari University
) and closing by
Lucia Alessi (JRC), featured four panels with representatives of ECB, ESMA, ACPR-Banque de France, Bruegel and national supervisory authorities.
Project information: https://www.unive.it/web/en/8701/esg-uptake