CHALLENGES IN MAKING INDIAN FINANCE CLIMATE-RESILIENT

ALL parts of the economy, including the financial sector, are vulnerable to climate risks.

- KN NINAN

A UN report says direct economic losses due to disasters increased from around $895-1,313 billion (at 2017 dollar values) in 1978-1997 to almost $3 trillion during 1998-2017. About 90 percent of total losses from all disasters are climate related. Munich RE, a German reinsurance agency that compiles global disaster statistics, estimated global losses due to disasters in 2023 at around $250 billion, of which only 38 percent was insured.

Recognising the vulnerability of the global financial system to the risks posed by climate change, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) of the Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements (BIS), of which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is an institutional member, released a document in March 2024 emphasising the need for a holistic approach to address climate-related financial risks.

Recognising the importance of securing India's financial sector from climate risks, the RBI circulated a 'Draft Disclosure Framework on Climate-related Financial Risks, 2024' for implementation by regulated entities (RES) in India that includes all scheduled commercial banks excluding local area banks, payment banks and regional rural banks, all Tier-IV primary urban cooperative banks, all-India financial institutions such as Exim Bank, NABARD, and all top non-banking financial companies.