The ECBs Monetary Policy Strategy Review Outcome: corporate sector asset purchases, climate change and the ECBs legal obligations

ClientEarth criticizes the ECB's 2021 Climate Roadmap as being too vague and slow to address the carbon bias in its Corporate Sector Purchase Programme (CSPP) and Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP). The organization argues that the ECB continues to subsidize greenhouse gas-intensive companies and fails to meet its legal obligations under EU treaties. ClientEarth calls for the immediate exclusion of bonds from companies involved in coal, unconventional oil and gas, and new fossil fuel exploration, as well as the requirement for issuers to adopt credible Paris-aligned transition strategies by January 2023.

• The ECB's Climate Roadmap is criticized for lacking urgency and scope, failing to immediately reduce the impact of corporate asset purchase programmes on climate change and human rights, and remaining inconsistent with EU climate policy.
• Despite the Strategy Review Outcome, National Central Banks continued to purchase assets from greenhouse gas-intensive companies; specifically, between April 2020 and September 2021, 15 additional bonds from five major European oil and gas companies were purchased.
• The ECB's plan to introduce climate-related disclosure requirements for CSPP eligibility is deemed too slow, with the requirement not intended to come into force until 2024, and it is criticized for not requiring a credible transition plan alongside disclosures.
• The ECB's reliance on external credit ratings to assess climate risk is viewed as insufficient, as these ratings often fail to capture long-term transition risks compared to short-term credit risks.
• ClientEarth asserts that the ECB is neglecting several legal obligations, including the duty to integrate environmental protection into monetary policy and to ensure consistency between monetary policy and EU climate policy.
• ClientEarth recommends the immediate exclusion of bonds from companies whose activities are incompatible with the Paris Goals, specifically those involved in coal, unconventional oil and gas, and new fossil fuel exploration and infrastructure.

APA

ClientEarth (2021). The ECBs Monetary Policy Strategy Review Outcome: corporate sector asset purchases, climate change and the ECBs legal obligations. https://www.clientearth.org/media/gdmhrgm3/2021-11-08-letter-from-clientearth-to-christine-lagarde.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. The ECBs Monetary Policy Strategy Review Outcome: corporate sector asset purchases, climate change and the ECBs legal obligations. 2021. https://www.clientearth.org/media/gdmhrgm3/2021-11-08-letter-from-clientearth-to-christine-lagarde.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=The ECBs Monetary Policy Strategy Review Outcome: corporate sector asset purchases, climate change and the ECBs legal obligations |date=8 November 2021 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/gdmhrgm3/2021-11-08-letter-from-clientearth-to-christine-lagarde.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2021ecbs, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{The ECBs Monetary Policy Strategy Review Outcome: corporate sector asset purchases, climate change and the ECBs legal obligations}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2021}, month = nov, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/gdmhrgm3/2021-11-08-letter-from-clientearth-to-christine-lagarde.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }