In opening remarks for the Bank of Spain’s “Green Friday” session on “Physical risks and adaptation: a data-driven approach”, Juan Ayuso, Director General for Operations, Markets and Payment Systems, set out a data-led framing for assessing climate-related risks and designing adaptation strategies. The Bank of Spain also released its latest report on the climate aspects of its investment portfolios, applying the common disclosure framework developed within the Eurosystem. The speech highlighted that natural catastrophes caused approximately EUR 900 billion of direct economic losses in the European Union between 1981 and 2023, with one fifth concentrated in the last three years of that period. It linked adaptation to the Paris Agreement objectives alongside mitigation, and noted the Network for Greening the Financial System’s view that adaptation can help avoid losses, spur innovation and investment, and support structural change, while pointing to a financing gap for adaptation. It also argued that physical and transition risks are tightly interconnected and that an integrated approach depends on high-quality, comparable and accessible climate data, supported by common disclosure standards, echoing the European Central Bank’s view that inadequate data and lack of public access can constrain climate risk assessment.
Bank of Spain 2025-06-20
Bank of Spain publishes its third annual climate disclosure report on investment portfolios and stresses the need for comparable public climate data
Juan Ayuso, Director General at the Bank of Spain, emphasized a data-driven approach to climate risks and adaptation at "Green Friday." The Bank released a report on its investment portfolios using the Eurosystem's framework. Ayuso highlighted EUR 900 billion in EU economic losses from natural catastrophes since 1981 and stressed adaptation's importance per the Paris Agreement, noting the interconnectedness of physical and transition risks and the need for high-quality climate data.