Background EU communication papers and IPCC reports have highlighted the adverse impact that climate change will have on several economic sectors. It will also, however, create new market opportunities. Piraeus Bank S.A. is a commercial bank with a large clientele from all economic sectors. In general, it is acknowledged that a client’s risks are also the bank’s risks. Efforts should thus be made to manage these risks for the benefit of the clients, the financial institutions and the business community as a whole. Objectives The main goal of the ClimaBiz project was to trigger the adaptation of the market to the risks and financial impacts of climate change. The ClimaBiz project aimed to be the catalyst for measures that adapt the market to climate change in Greece and other Member States – especially Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania). ClimaBiz was set up to inspire financial institutions in these countries to focus climate change adaptation. Specific objectives of ClimaBiz project included: Identifying aspects of climate change (physical and regulatory) in southeast Europe and prioritising risks and opportunities to be managed by Piraeus Bank; Quantifying climate change risks and opportunities, and valorising climate adaptation solutions for companies; Developing climate risk and climate adaptation management mechanisms and integrating them into credit risk and business planning banking systems – i.e. integrating the climate factor into the client evaluation procedure of Piraeus Bank; Developing an intensive training programme for Piraeus Bank employees on how to identify the climate risks and opportunities presented by clients and how to assist businesses to adapt to climate change; Mobilising the branches of Piraeus Bank located across Greece to spread know how on the risks, opportunities and adaptation solutions pertaining to climate change for clients from all the economic sectors and the general public; Taking advantage of Piraeus Bank subsidiaries (Piraeus Bank Romania, Piraeus Bank Bulgaria and Piraeus Bank Cyprus) to disseminate the project’s objectives and assist them in developing their own mechanisms for adaptation to climate change; Running a Climate Adaptation Centre to ensure support for the climate adaptation strategies of the Piraeus Bank branch network; Monitoring the progress of clients’ adaptation to climate change, and as a result the bank’s adaptation to climate change, and advertising/promoting best climate adaptation business practices through Web portal; Results The ClimaBiz project identified the impact of and business opportunities resulting from climate change in Greece and the surrounding region of Europe. It also developed innovative tools (climate change risk assessment models) to estimate in monetary terms the costs of climate change for businesses and the necessary investment costs of adaptation. The project significantly increased the internal capacity of the bank by training staff in various ways. The project provided the necessary tools to bank employees to offer free consultation to more than 4 500 companies across Greece, and more than 4 300 companies have invested in climate adaptation solutions. A major success of the project was the development of the Climate Risk Quantification Model. This model estimates in quantitative terms the climate change risks associated with specific economic sectors, ‘sub-sectors’ and companies due to existing or future regulations on climate change and the direct financial losses or gains attributable to increased temperature, drought, precipitation, extreme weather events and other parameters associated with climate change. The climate risk is broken down into physical climate risk, direct regulatory climate risk and indirect regulatory climate risk. Typical units or clients have been created for different sector and sub-sectors, in order to address the varying climate risk associated with all clients that belong to the same sector, especially in the manufacturing industry. By knowing the turnover of the client and the sub-sector to which the company belongs, the Climate Risk Quantification Model can simulate the production profile and volume of this company, as well as the materials used, the energy consumed, the products and the production process. Consequently, the credit analyst can enter the annual turnover of his client into the model and estimate all types of climate risks. A number of supporting studies and activities were conducted: “Climate change and Greek businesses: Risks and Opportunities”, which provides an overview of climate change and its impacts in various Greek economy sectors; “Climate change and business opportunities”, which estimates investment opportunities arising from climate change in Greece; “Climate Change and the Financial Sector”, which describes Piraeus Bank’s innovation regarding the estimation of climate change impacts. A scientific paper was published in the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. It describes in detail the methodology to estimate climate risk, as implemented by the ClimaBiz project. It is one of the very few scientific papers on the monetised estimation of climate change in financial institutions. Also within the project, Piraeus Bank created the Green Banking Portal, a site where businesses and investors can network for green business. The Green Banking Portal of Piraeus Bank: Presents the good practices adopted by organisations and/or businesses in order to reduce their environmental footprint (e.g. lower energy consumption by insulating buildings or by using special bulbs); Presents green businesses i.e. enterprises that produce/sell products or provide services included in the green business sector; Provides information about the policies and technologies developed by organisations/businesses in order to adapt to climate change; Allows the exchange of opinions or expertise among organisations, businesses and individuals through a specially designed forum; Network businesses that either are involved in the green business sector or reduce their environmental footprint.The project, moreover, developed three e-learning programmes for internal capacity building in the bank. Dissemination throughout the project duration was excellent. Three members of the project team attended the UNFCCC COP18 in Doha, at which the project manager gave an interview on RTCC TV channel. The project was the first full-scale application of climate change adaptation by a financial institution in Greece. The relevant tools (models) developed were innovative; they integrated and assessed climate change related risk in monetary terms of all economic sectors. Using these tools, the bank’s employees can easily assess how businesses are affected by climate change and how they can adapt. This service, which is provided for free to the bank's clients, is of value for the thousands of small businesses that cannot afford to pay consultancies in order to understand their risks from climate change. The developed approach was demonstrated on full scale in Piraeus Bank. It is believed that the project results will be further developed and exploited in the coming years since the Piraeus Bank is investing in the development of climate-oriented business. The ClimaBiz approach can also serve as an example for other financial institutions and policy makers in Europe. The incorporation of the climate-related risk into the risk profile of clients will result in a much wider green business conscience among the business community in Europe. It can also assist banks in creating a much ‘healthier’ portfolio of clients. Also, the application of such tools on a regional level can help regional authorities calculate the total cost for adaptation of the local business community to climate change policies and requirements. Such tools would be useful for the EU in the development of funding schemes and policy and operational objectives for structural funds targeted at low-carbon economies. These tools are also financially useful for banks. Lowering the credit risk, including the climate risk of a client, decreases potential losses for a bank and improves the economy as a whole. For policy makers at all levels, this approach can help calculate the necessary level of investments needed to reach a certain level of climate change adaptation performance for all businesses in a particular region. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).