EBA ESG risk dashboard finds steadier exposures and better mortgage data

The EBA ESG risk dashboard, published on 6 August, found that EU/EEA banks’ transition and physical climate-risk indicators remained broadly stable in the second half of 2025. The European Banking Authority also reported gradual gains in the availability and quality of climate-related data, particularly for mortgage energy-efficiency assessments.

Between June and December 2025, banks’ exposure to sectors the EBA classifies as highly contributing to climate change remained broadly unchanged at 62% across the EU/EEA. Although some jurisdictions recorded movements, the aggregate transition-risk profile, as well as the most exposed banks and countries, was largely unchanged, the authority said.

What does the EBA ESG risk dashboard show?

The dashboard is the EBA’s twice-yearly monitoring tool for climate-related risks at large and listed EU institutions. It draws on banks’ Pillar 3 ESG disclosures and tracks exposures associated with transition risk, arising from the economic shift associated with climate change, and physical risk, arising from climate-related hazards. The EBA cautions that climate-related risks do not automatically become financial risks on banks’ balance sheets.

For physical climate risk, sensitive exposures were unchanged in most jurisdictions, according to the EBA. Country averages nonetheless differed substantially, from below 10% in some jurisdictions to above 55% in others. The authority said geographic, economic and sectoral features, together with differing approaches to risk classification and assessment, help explain the range.

Why did the EBA find climate-related data had improved?

The evidence was concentrated in mortgage portfolios. The share of mortgage exposures classified as highly energy efficient, meaning energy use of 100 kWh per square metre or less, rose slightly. At the same time, the proportion of mortgage exposures lacking energy-performance information fell marginally, as did the share relying on estimated energy-performance scores.

The EBA said those changes pointed to continuing improvement in the information used to assess mortgage portfolios. It characterised progress in climate-related reporting data as incremental.

More complete energy-performance information can give supervisors a clearer basis to monitor climate-related indicators linked to property-backed exposures. The dashboard’s findings, however, separately show that aggregate transition and physical climate-risk indicators were stable over the reporting period.

The dashboard is available through the EBA’s European Data Access Portal, its central hub for supervisory data in the EU/EEA. The latest release provides a system-level overview based on disclosed information, rather than a measure that automatically translates climate exposure into balance-sheet financial risk.

This story draws on original reporting from Finextra Research.