Financial organisations in the Netherlands have developed and published guidelines for the more than 50 financial institutions that signed the Climate Commitment in 2019.

The guidelines, developed by the Dutch Banking Association, the Dutch Association of Insurers, the Pension Federation, and the Dutch Fund and Asset Management Association, aim to create clarity on which elements belong in an action plan and the measurement of CO2 emissions in loans and investments.

Financial institutions that were developing or adjusting their climate action plans were encouraged to make use of the guidelines.

These action plans describe how financial institutions will reduce the CO2 emissions of their investments and relevant financing to help them meet the Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees.

In the first progress report of the Climate Commitment in 2021, KPMG noted differences in the interpretation of the figures and results of measurements of CO2 content.

Dutch financial organisations have therefore published the guidelines to give participants of the Climate Commitment direction as to which elements belong in their action plans.

The authors of the guidelines acknowledged that participants would need time to incorporate the recommendations from the guidelines into their policies and action plans.

Participants are therefore expected to comply with the guidelines by 2023, with action plans published by the end of 2022 expected to “meet the guidelines to a significant extent, but not yet fully”.

The guidelines were drawn up in consultation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate and the Ministry of Finance, and are updated and tightened annually.

In the Climate Commitment, the Dutch financial institutions promised to measure the CO2 impact of relevant loans and investments and to set reduction targets from this year.

Financial institutions determine which actions best suit their own institution, provided they are in line with the goals of the commitment.

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