The results of the first National Survey on Sustainable Finance and Climate Change (Encuesta Nacional de Finanzas Sostenibles y Cambio Climático, ENFSyCC), carried out in the last quarter of 2022, show that financial institutions have a growing interest in promoting sustainable finance. In this sense, the BCRA will have an additional tool to move forward in the design and implementation of a policy strategy in the coming years—based on the information from the ENFSyCC—that promotes effective identification of, and a prudent approach to, the risks and opportunities related to climate change, contributing to the strengthening, development and stability of the Argentine financial system.

The ENFSyCC, which was voluntary, was completed by about 60 financial institutions regulated by the BCRA, which account for 97% of the bank credit granted to the private sector. The results are available at the following link: https://www.argentina.gob.ar/sites/default/files/sector_bancario.pdf.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) provided technical assistance to the initiative.

The survey will contribute to a better diagnosis about financial institutions’ level of knowledge, relevance assigned to, and approach taken on sustainability issues and, particularly, on the financial effects linked to climate change in terms of risks and opportunities.

This survey was conducted within the framework of the growing international commitment to face the challenges posed by climate change. Different international forums, central banks, and regulatory and supervisory authorities, as well as market participants, have made progress in analyzing potential risks and financial implications, and have started to outline alternatives to address them.

In Argentina, relevant progress has been made in this area, in line with the local regulatory framework for environmental protection and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set forth as under the Paris Agreement. In particular, the actions developed by the Technical Group for Sustainable Finance (Mesa Técnica de Finanzas Sostenibles, MTFS) stand out within the set of initiatives implemented by the public sector for the financial system. The MTFS was created in 2020 and, with the coordination of the Ministry of Economy, it brings together the sector's regulators with the purpose of developing sustainable finance in Argentina and promoting appropriate management of the risks associated with social, environmental, and governance-related factors.

Within the framework set by the MTFS, the Ministry of Economy, the BCRA, the National Securities Commission and the National Superintendence of Insurance signed at the end of 2021 a Joint Declaration to boost sustainable finance in Argentina. Based on the commitments established by the aforementioned Joint Declaration, the survey was one of the first actions implemented.

May 11, 2023