Dutch financial institutions have EUR 510 billion at risk due to the dependency of their loan’s portfolio on ecosystem services

The Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) and PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency have published a report on how Dutch financial sector is exposed to risks as a result of their loan’s portfolio dependency on ecosystem services. According to the document, Dutch financial institutions have EUR 510 billion in exposure to companies with high or very high dependency on one or more ecosystem services. The new study builds on the report Values at risk?, published last year by DNB, in which risks of biodiversity loss were investigated in qualitative terms.

Biodiversity is the diversity within species, between species and between ecosystems. Biodiversity loss is a source of financial risks and threatens the availability of ecosystem services, such as wood, animal pollination and soil fertility, on which economic activities depend.

As a result, banks, pension funds and insurers that finance these economic activities face physical risks. Dutch financial institutions worldwide have EUR 510 billion in exposure to companies with high or very high dependency on one or more ecosystem services. This comprises 36% of the portfolio examined. One of these ecosystem services is animal pollination. At a global level, the financial sector’s exposure to products that depend on pollination amounts to EUR 28 billion.

Financial institutions run reputation and transition risks when they finance companies that have a major negative impact on biodiversity. For example, Dutch financial institutions worldwide have contributed EUR 97 billion in finance to companies involved in environmental controversies. Negative impact that can be traced back to a specific company results in reputational damage for the company itself as well as for the financial institutions funding it.

Companies must adapt their operations to government policy and changing consumer preferences aimed at reducing the damage to biodiversity. The transition to less nitrogen-intensive business models can expose the EUR 81 billion in loans that the three large Dutch banks have made to Dutch sectors with nitrogen-emitting activities to transition risks.