Botín: “We can’t expect banks to be the climate police”.

Lead but not control. This is the summary of the position that has marked this Wednesday Ana Botín, president of Banco Santander, in a forum organized by the entity itself to discuss climate change and the role of banking. “We cannot expect banks to be the climate police,” said the head of the Spanish bank with the largest international presence. “We are aligned with leading, but we need more clarity from governments,” he stressed.

With this round table, the bank began its annual conference on international finance, in this case focused on climate. In her brief speech, Botín emphasized that it should be the states and regulators that set common criteria at a global level. In this way, the bank’s president assured that “we and our clients will be able to invest with confidence”.

Botín has defended that large companies are already taking steps towards the decarbonization of the economy, but that it is a more problematic issue for SMEs. “I was with a small client of ours and I asked him when he was going to be more sustainable and he answered me that first he has to think about paying salaries or paying the electricity, that he would do it when the Government obliged him to”, he said.

Botín’s speech was not only aimed at regulators and governments, but also at central banks, which she asked to coordinate. Specifically, she referred to the increase in stress tests being carried out by these supervisors on climate change and banking. In Europe, the results of these tests will be known at the beginning of next year. He regretted that the requirements are different in Europe, the UK and the US, where the bank has a presence. “Everyone wants to follow the same path but in different ways, so it is very difficult for us to proceed,” he said.

Before Botín pointed to the responsibility of governments versus that of banks, the United Nations climate secretary, Patricia Espinosa, urged the financial sector to be “totally aligned” with international climate goals. “If their commitment is not met, the credibility of the process could be at risk,” Espinoza said.sa. “An effort is needed to move away from an approach that does not pay attention to the climate consequences of investments,” he added. “We need your influence, nations cannot do it on their own, all sectors must be involved,” he stressed.