2024: or the Year of Procrastination – the ECB needs to accelerate on climate

The ECB is criticized for limited progress on climate action in 2024, with the author arguing that current efforts are insufficient. While noting some advances in nature inclusion and fossil fuel exclusions in non-monetary portfolios, the document highlights missed opportunities in monetary policy and the abandonment of greening measures for the collateral framework. It calls for transparent sanctions against banks failing climate risk assessments, the adoption of robust transition plans, the exclusion of fossil fuel assets from collateral, and the consideration of dual interest rates in the upcoming 2025 monetary policy strategy review.

• The ECB has made some progress in 2024, including incorporating nature and biodiversity into its Climate and Nature Plan 2024-2025 and applying fossil fuel exclusions to all corporate assets within its pension fund.
• The ECB is pursuing supervisory action against four out of 113 banks under its direct supervision for failing to meet deadlines for assessing climate risk exposure, with penalties expected by late 2024 or early 2025.
• The ECB's monetary policy is described as involuntarily harming the green transition because high interest rates disproportionately impact renewable energy investments, which require higher upfront costs.
• In July 2024, the ECB abandoned its plan to integrate climate-related considerations into its collateral framework; the author suggests replacing this with the exclusion of certain fossil fuel assets from eligible collateral.
• The author recommends that the ECB use its 2025 monetary policy strategy review to explore how monetary policy can accelerate the transition, specifically suggesting the implementation of dual interest rates.

APA

Martin, L. (2024). 2024: or the Year of Procrastination – the ECB needs to accelerate on climate. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2024/09/16/2024-or-the-year-of-procrastination-the-ecb-needs-to-accelerate-on-climate/

Chicago

Martin, Léo. 2024: or the Year of Procrastination – the ECB needs to accelerate on climate. Reclaim Finance, 2024. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2024/09/16/2024-or-the-year-of-procrastination-the-ecb-needs-to-accelerate-on-climate/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Martin |first1=Léo |title=2024: or the Year of Procrastination – the ECB needs to accelerate on climate |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=16 September 2024 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2024/09/16/2024-or-the-year-of-procrastination-the-ecb-needs-to-accelerate-on-climate/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{martin20242024, author = {Martin, Léo}, title = {{2024: or the Year of Procrastination – the ECB needs to accelerate on climate}}, publisher = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2024/09/16/2024-or-the-year-of-procrastination-the-ecb-needs-to-accelerate-on-climate/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }