- Association of German Banks publishes new position paper
- Banks as partners – event in Berlin today
Germany’s private banks present their new position paper, “Promoting Sustainability, Ensuring Growth”, a set of guiding principles on climate change mitigation, economic growth and the sustainable transformation. In it, they call for more consistent policies which put growth and innovation at the forefront of achieving climate goals.
“Only robust economic growth will enable innovation and investment in climate change mitigation. Growth and climate change mitigation are not mutually exclusive: Our climate goals can only be achieved if economic growth promotes innovation and efficient technologies that reduce resource consumption and environmental pollution,” said Heiner Herkenhoff, CEO of the Association of German Banks with reference to the new paper.
A ‘degrowth approach’ is not the solution. “We cannot shrink our way to climate change mitigation. This will not only leave us without the courage and strength for innovation but will also leave us lacking that all important support from society,” emphasised the head of the association. Instead, policymakers, businesses and society should use the market economy as the driving force behind the transformation. “The transformation will be a success with market-based instruments such as CO2 pricing and smart, consistent framework conditions. And the key here is investment.” Policymakers should create attractive structural conditions to encourage sustainable investment – particularly from the private sector.
Banks not only provide the capital, but they also manage climate risks and act as partners to their customers along the transformation path. “We are making our contribution to the Paris climate goals. To continue doing this, we need policies that provide reliability and predictability,” said Herkenhoff. Also, changes need to be made to ESG regulation making investment and transition finance easier and not more difficult.
“At the moment, businesses and many citizens are rightly complaining about overly complex, contradictory and excessive bureaucracy – and not only with ESG.” Social cohesion and broad support will be crucial in successfully shaping sustainability. “Growth and sustainability go hand in hand,” said Heiner Herkenhoff.
The Association of German Banks presents its new paper at the “Promoting Sustainability, Ensuring Growth” event in Berlin today. Attending the event which starts at 12 p.m. are: Jens Spahn, Deputy Chair of the CDU/CSU Group, Jörg Eigendorf, Chief Sustainability Officer at Deutsche Bank, Professor Maja Göpel, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Silke Stremlau, Chair of the Sustainable Finance Advisory Committee of the Federal Government and Frank Thelen, Head of Governance and Procurement, thyssenkrupp Materials Services. Hosted by Alexa von Busse. Registration is now closed. For more information and a recording of the event available shortly after it has ended.
