Hellenic Bank on Friday announced that it reaffirmed its commitment to Cyprus’ green transition during the second Green Agenda Cyprus Summit.

According to the announcement, the bank supported the event as a member of the Eurobank Group.

The summit, held earlier this week, aimed to position Cyprus as a model of environmental responsibility and sustainable development.

This year’s summit focused on critical and timely issues that highlight both the opportunities and challenges of the green transition.

Particular emphasis was placed on the business prospects and economic growth associated with shifting towards a more sustainable model.

In the aftermath of the event, Hellenic Bank said that it is “actively promoting sustainable practices and providing support to green initiatives and environmentally responsible businesses”.

Speaking on a panel titled “Green Transition, Funding and Risk Management”, Chief Risk Officer Joseph Antoniou outlined the bank’s strategic objectives and performance indicators aimed at scaling up financing in key areas.

These areas include renewable energy projects, energy upgrades for households and businesses, environmentally friendly housing loans, and favourable financing for the purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles.

“The green transition has reshaped the risk management framework, and ESG is now addressed through an integrated and structured strategic approach aligned with the European regulatory framework,” said Antoniou.

“This strategy is intended to support every client on their journey toward the green transition, while also protecting the organisation from related emerging risks,” he added.

“Specifically”, Antoniou continued, “the bank has identified and assessed both physical and transition risk factors that could potentially affect its risk profile and operations, which requires adequate analysis”.

Moreover, Antoniou said that “it is worth noting that physical climate risks such as flood and wildfire hazards have been mapped by region and classified according to their risk profile, which is taken into account in the bank’s portfolio risk management”.

At the same time, the Chief Risk Officer emphasised the importance of banks in educating and raising awareness among their customers on sustainability and environmental or climate-related risks, encouraging them to shift toward more sustainable business models.

Hellenic Bank also stated that it is actively involved in an interbank initiative, in collaboration with Artemis Credit Bureau and ICAP CRIF S.A., aimed at assessing the ESG criteria of its clients through a structured questionnaire.

“Customers receive an action plan with specific measures designed to support their strategic transition to more sustainable operations,” the bank pointed out.

“Other initiatives include ESG assessments across the bank’s credit and investment portfolio using defined social, environmental, and governance risk criteria,” it added.

“The bank also monitors Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) related to ESG and has defined its ESG-related risk appetite accordingly,” the announcement concluded.