Central Bank of Ireland publishes call for interest for participants in Climate Risk and Sustainable Finance Forum

• Climate Risk and Sustainable Finance Forum (“Climate Forum”) being established to bring together a range of stakeholders to collectively build capacity and share best practices to advance the financial sector’s response to climate change.
• Representatives from financial sector firms and industry representative bodies are invited to apply to join the Climate Forum by 20 May 2022.
• Inaugural meeting to take place on 29 June 2022 where focus will be on establishing a framework to make progress on high-priority issues affecting the financial sector.

The Central Bank of Ireland has today (25 April 2022) published a call for interest in membership of the Climate Forum. Applications open today and will remain open until 20 May 2022. An expression of interest form for prospective members is available here.

The Central Bank announced its intention to establish the Climate Forum in November 2021. It will be a consultative forum providing a space for cross-sectoral discussions among representative bodies, financial sector participants, climate change experts and the Central Bank. Its overall purpose is to build a shared approach to the understanding and management of the financial risks and opportunities posed by climate change. To this end, working groups will be established within the Climate Forum to develop industry-specific best practice documents.

The Climate Forum will meet twice a year, chaired by Deputy Governor Sharon Donnery, and minutes of each meeting will be published within four weeks of the meeting taking place. The inaugural meeting will take place on 29 June 2022.

Commenting on the establishment of the Climate Forum, Deputy Governor Donnery said,

“Addressing the risks posed by climate change and supporting the transition to a carbon-neutral economy is a core part of the Central Bank’s multi-year Strategy. Importantly, it is also a significant responsibility for all participants in the financial system.

“In establishing the Climate Forum, we are continuing to commit to embedding climate change considerations in our own operations and across our mandate. It will provide an innovative opportunity to discuss the risks and opportunities posed by climate change with a wide range of stakeholders, and to share collective expertise in developing best practices to address this considerable challenge.”

Notes to Editor

Addressing the risks of climate change is an integral theme in the Central Bank’s multi-year Strategy. In 2021, the Central Bank established a dedicated Climate Change Unit to help steer the agenda and bring additional focus to our work in this area.

The Climate Risk and Sustainable Finance Forum proposes to address the following broad topics:

• Build a shared knowledge and understanding of the implications of climate change for the Irish economy and financial system;
• Build a shared understanding of data gaps and how to address them;
• Share/publish best practice on climate-risk assessment and modelling;
• Share/publish examples of good practice on embedding climate-related risk assessment and sustainable finance considerations within firms’ operations.

External membership of the Climate Forum is expected to be 20 members. Members will be selected according to the following indicative criteria:

1. Demonstrated ability to contribute actively to the work of the Climate Forum, including the potential to resource working groups that might be established as part of the Forum;
2. Capacity to provide sufficiently senior representation to the Climate Forum, and;
3. Current and planned climate risk/sustainable finance work by the proposed organisation.

In selecting members, due effort will also be made to ensure cross-sectoral representation and diversity of perspectives. Membership will be reviewed by the Chair of the Climate Forum on an annual basis, to ensure continued cross-industry representation and diversity within the Forum.