The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the National Bank of Croatia (HNB) are jointly focusing on the role of the financial sector in addressing climate change by mobilising financing and appraising climate risk, the EBRD said in a statement on April 29.

At a joint conference, the two institutions discussed the role of banking sector in greening of economy and preventing the spread of climate change that would require significant capital.

“The entire financial sector must have an aligned approach to financing the needs of the real economy if we are to have any hope of achieving a net-zero-carbon world by 2050,” Francis Malige, EBRD sanaging director, financial institutions, said at the conference as quoted in EBRD’s statement.

He added that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of the global economy and that the same applies to the climate change crisis, which is also affecting the competitiveness and sustainability of traditional business models.

“We now have a rare opportunity to support a post-pandemic recovery that also drives the low-carbon transition and builds resilience to the physical risks brought about by climate change. Accelerated by the Covid-19 crisis, green investments have now become a necessity, not a ‘nice-to-have’,” Malige noted.

He added that international institutions such as the EBRD can back their partners in implementing the transition towards green economy.