The European recovery plan Next Generation EU is key for Spain: it enables the post-crisis transition towards a greener and more digital economy, in which “the transformation of SMEs will be key, and banks can play a role in helping them,” our president, José María Roldán, stated today.
Convinced that the financial system and banks, in particular, will be a key element in the decarbonization of the productive model, Roldán emphasized the need for authorities to contribute to the process by providing greater clarity on best practices, data requirements, and supervisory expectations, among other aspects.
“Public-private partnerships are not only useful, they are necessary, a key component of the transition to a greener economy and financial system,” he stressed in his speech at the sustainable finance event organized by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) – in collaboration with the British Embassy in Madrid and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the United Kingdom – ahead of the COP26 Climate Summit to be held in November in London.
For the AEB president, “we need more plumbers and fewer climate change apostles. We don’t need to work more on awareness, but on creating clear, fewer but more effective rules. Technical guidance and future planning are needed,” he said, alluding to a clear roadmap on who does what, who is in charge of a task, and when it is expected to be completed.
Regarding the risks of the green transition process, he warned of the need to avoid greenwashing and to articulate appropriate incentives to promote best practices, because if the wrong actors are penalized, the incentive system will break down and the entire transition will be jeopardized. “We must do it right, and for now, greater clarity is needed to ensure a fair process.”
