First-of-its-kind ranking of 50 of the world’s largest commercial banks by their climate adaptation maturity
A landmark analysis conducted by Climate X and Climate Proof examined 50 of the world’s largest banks, utilizing large language models (LLMs) to evaluate their activities across 17 critical indicators related to climate adaptation.
- Degree of climate adaptation maturity in the Banks analysed
- Impact of regional policies on adaptation efforts
- Notable trends, regional disparities, and best practices that are shaping banks’ climate strategies
According to David Carlin, the findings are both intriguing and alarming, revealing that nearly 90% of these major banks are falling short in their efforts to address climate adaptation risks.
The next step recommendation is for financial institutions to delve deeper into climate adaptation. He further recommends focusing on four key aspects:
- The supply chain vulnerabilities of their clients
- The second-order effects of climate risks
- Correlations between various impacts
- Changes in insurance costs and coverage
This analysis centered on banks’ disclosures, particularly their annual reports, covering both their internal operations and client-facing initiatives.
The effectiveness of this analysis largely hinges on what banks have disclosed regarding adaptation in their annual reports, which were the primary focus of the assessment. Expanding to include additional reports will be a key objective for the next phase of this research.
