Assessment of the BaFin Guidance Notice on Dealing with Sustainability Risks in Risk Management
(2021)
The elaboration of research addressed the sustainability risks identified in the BaFin Guidance Notice with regard to risk management. Sustainability risks (ESG risks) must be
divided into the three areas: ‘Environment’, ‘Social’ and ‘Governance’. ‘Environment’, which is potentially the largest area of the three, is divided again into physical risks
and transition risks. Physical risks describe the possible impacts of extreme weather events, and transition risks are those that can arise as a result of the transition to a
low-carbon economy (through political decisions or technological developments, for example). According to the BaFin, the Guidance Notice is a ‘compendium of non-binding procedures’ and the measures to be taken by the companies should be based on the type, magnitude and complexity of the risks involved (principle of proportionality).
In der Ausarbeitung wurde sich mit den Nachhaltigkeitsrisiken aus dem BaFin Merkblatt in Bezug auf das Risikomanagement beschäftigt. Die Nachhaltigkeitsrisiken (ESG Risiken) sind in die drei Bereiche „Environment“, „Social“ und „Governance“ zu
unterteilen. Der potentiell größte Bereich „Environment“ unterteilt sich wiederum in Physische Risiken und Transitionsrisiken. Physische Risiken beschreiben die möglichen Auswirkungen durch Extremwettereignisse und transitorische Risiken sind solche, welche sich durch den Umschwung in eine kohlenstoffarme Wirtschaft ergeben können (beispielweise durch politische Entscheidungen oder technologische Entwicklungen). Das Merkblatt ist laut der BaFin ein „Kompendium unverbindlicher Verfahrensweisen“ und die zu treffenden Maßnahmen der Unternehmen sollen sich an Art, Höhe und Komplexität der Risiken ausrichten (Proportionalitätsprinzip).
In recent years, three sovereign catastrophe risk pools have developed worldwide, offering climate insurance against natural disasters in emerging and developing economies:
• Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) in the Caribbean
• African Risk Capacity (ARC) in Africa
• Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC) in the Pacific region
These pools have emerged against the backdrop of limited fiscal room for manoeuvre in emerging and developing economies. Increases in tax revenues or capital allocations are scarcely possible in these economies. Moreover, debt on the capital market often ends in debt relief, and this can jeopardise refinancing. Ultimately, the only measure remaining is to provide donations and aid that can be made available by the G7 countries, the World Bank or the World Health Organization, among others.