CLIMATE RISK IN BANKS – THE CASE OF POLISH BANKING SECTOR.

Objectives: The issues of environmental protection, including stopping the degrading climate change, are currently a subject of particular interest of the scientific community, policymakers, practitioners, but also all people around the world. Banking institutions, as a giver of capital, play a special role in financing climate protection activities. On the other hand, they are particularly exposed to climate risk, identified with the probability that extreme natural hazards may cause adverse effects, including the loss of people’s lives, their property or other economic assets, which became the main research topic in the article. The main purpose of the paper is climate risk exegesis and to analyze the degree of climate risk inclusion in the bank risk management process in the case of the Polish banking sector. The conducted empirical research verified the research hypothesis stating that the Polish banking sector is becoming more and more oriented towards the climate risk among the bank risk management systems. Material and methods: The following research methods were used in the paper: survey questionnaire method, case study analysis, observation method and synthesis method. The research procedure included two stages of questionnaire research, followed by the analysis and evaluation of the obtained results. Results: It has been shown that the Polish banking sector defines its climate goals and is increasingly sensitive to the climate risk management, including them in its risk management systems. It also assesses exposure to climate risk in terms of physical and transitional risk. Conclusions: The research and results presented in this study are important in building political awareness as well as public, social and economic activities in the field of counteracting climate threats. However, banks’ awareness is very important for financing projects that reduce degrading impact on climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]