ECB climate centre

The request was partially successful.

Dear European Central Bank,

On July 8th 2021, as part of its new monetary strategy, the ECB adopted its first "climate roadmap". Over the past year, the climate impact of ECB operations has increasingly drawn the attention of Europeans, with more 171 000 of them calling on the central bank to stop supporting polluting companies and contribute to the EU transition. While most of the work underpinning the implementation of the roadmap will be carried out by a "climate centre", there is little information available on this new centre, its members and agenda. Furthermore, the ECB is yet to clarify if the centre's work will be made public and how civil society can contribute.

A few elements about the centre are available in two press releases: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/...
- https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/...

Therefore, under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:
- The detailed agenda of the climate centre;
- The list of members of the climate centre;
- A description of the process and disclosure policies envisioned for the climate centre's work;
- A list of means and ways for civil society to contribute to the climate centre's work.

Yours faithfully,

Paul Schreiber

Reclaim Finance

Access to documents,

Dear Mr Schreiber,
Thank you for your request dated 16 September 2021 for access to European
Central Bank (ECB) documents.
In accordance with Article 7(1) of [1]Decision ECB/2004/3 of the European
Central Bank, you will receive a reply within 20 working days.
Yours sincerely,
Compliance and Governance Office
DG Secretariat
European Central Bank
Sonnemannstrasse 20
60314 Frankfurt am Main
[2][email address]
 
Privacy notice: By submitting a request for access to documents, the ECB
collects information about you for the sole purpose of processing your
request in accordance with [3]Decision ECB/2004/3. All personal data are
processed in accordance with EU Data Protection Law ([4]Regulation (EU)
2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council). The ECB is the
controller for the processing of the personal data. The recipients of the
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Officer ([6][email address]).Furthermore, you have the right to address
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regarding this processing of your personal data.
 
 
________________________________________
From: Paul Schreiber
Sent: Thursday, 16 September 2021 14:36:38 (UTC+01:00) Amsterdam, Berlin,
Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna
To: [8][email address]
Subject: [EXT] access to documents request - ECB climate centre
 
Dear European Central Bank,
 
On July 8th 2021, as part of its new monetary strategy, the ECB adopted
its first "climate roadmap". Over the past year, the climate impact of ECB
operations has increasingly drawn the attention of Europeans, with more
171 000 of them calling on the central bank to stop supporting polluting
companies and contribute to the EU transition. While most of the work
underpinning the implementation of the roadmap will be carried out by a
"climate centre", there is little information available on this new
centre, its members and agenda. Furthermore, the ECB is yet to clarify if
the centre's work will be made public and how civil society can
contribute.
 
A few elements about the centre are available in two press releases:
[9]https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/...
-
[10]https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/...
 
Therefore, under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as
developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain
the following information:
- The detailed agenda of the climate centre;
- The list of members of the climate centre;
- A description of the process and disclosure policies envisioned for the
climate centre's work;
- A list of means and ways for civil society to contribute to the climate
centre's work.
 
Yours faithfully,
 
Paul Schreiber
 
Reclaim Finance
 
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This is a request for access to information under Article 15 of the TFEU
and, where applicable, Regulation 1049/2001 which has been sent via the
AsktheEU.org website.
 
Please kindly use this email address for all replies to this request:
[11][FOI #9941 email]
 
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Officer ([email address]). You may also contact the European Data
Protection Supervisor.

References

Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
4. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
5. mailto:[email address]
6. mailto:[email address]
7. http://www.edps.europa.eu/
8. mailto:[email address]
9. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/...
10. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/...
11. mailto:[FOI #9941 email]
12. mailto:[ECB request email]
13. mailto:[AsktheEU.org contact email]
14. https://www.asktheeu.org/en/help/officers

Dear European Central Bank,

By law, and as you did not signal the need for an extension period, you should normally have responded to this request by October 7. Therefore, could you provide a response or clarify if more time is necessary to do so?

Yours sincerely,

Paul Schreiber
Reclaim Finance

Access to documents,

Dear Mr Schreiber,
 
Thank you for your email.
 
We would like to clarify that, the number of days counted for the reply
are working days, therefore, the deadline would be 14 October 2021.
However, we regret to inform you that the collection of the relevant
information is still ongoing and we will need to extend the deadline
according to the applicable rules.
 
Whilst apologising for any inconvenience this delay might cause, please
rest assured that we are giving careful consideration to your request and
will endeavour to reply as soon as possible.
 
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Compliance and Governance Office
DG Secretariat
European Central Bank
Sonnemannstrasse 20
60314 Frankfurt am Main
[1][email address]
 
 

show quoted sections

ECB Information, European Central Bank

Dear Mr Schreiber,

Thank you for your request of 16 September 2021 and your interest in the
Climate Change Centre of the European Central Bank (ECB).

As you know, the ECB has decided to set up a Climate Change Centre to
bring together the work on climate issues in different areas of the bank
(see: [1]ECB sets up Climate Change Centre). The ECB Climate Change Centre
(“the Centre”) has the mandate to shape and steer the ECB’s climate agenda
and bring together the ECB’s work on climate change and sustainable
finance and coordinate all activities that are part of [2]our climate
roadmap (see also: [3]What's our roadmap to greening monetary policy?, and
[4]ECB presents action plan to include climate change considerations in
its monetary policy strategy).

The Centre will report to the ECB’s President (who oversees the ECB’s work
on climate change and sustainable finance) and is currently in the process
of becoming fully operational. The Centre will eventually consist of
eleven staff members of which five experts are seconded from different
areas within the ECB who will act as the liaison between technical work at
business area level and the Centre. These five experts lead the work in
the following areas:

 1. financial stability and prudential policy;
 2. macroeconomic analysis and monetary policy;
 3. financial market operations and risk;
 4. EU policy and financial regulation; and
 5. corporate sustainability.

Furthermore, three team members work on horizontal topics (communication,
data and climate science) and there are the Head, Deputy Head, and an
assistant. The Head of the Centre, Irene Heemskerk, joined the ECB in June
2021 via an external recruitment and subsequently eight team members have
already joined (see: [5]ECB appoints Irene Heemskerk as Head of its
Climate Change Centre).

It is worth noting that whilst the Centre staffing process is ongoing, its
processes and policies are currently being defined. Although still largely
work in progress, the Centre is expected to shape and formalise the ECB
climate agenda, to monitor developments outside the ECB, to create an
overview of all the ECB’s climate related activities, to elaborate
strategic views, coordinate and bring together the work on climate issues
performed within the ECB, and steer activities across ECB to implement
agreed strategy and goals.

Similarly, the outreach policy and the Climate Change Centre’ engagements
with all relevant stakeholders in the public sphere are currently being
defined so that the climate commitment of the ECB can benefit from a
communication channel with the wider public and researchers while
respecting all elements of transparency and good
governance/administration. We would like to reassure you that relevant
information will be published in due time via our website.

In addition to the links provided in the footnotes, detailed information
in relation to the purpose, role and composition of the Centre can also be
found on [6]the ECB Podcast episode dedicated to climate change, published
on 22 September 2021.

Yours sincerely,
Internal and External Engagement Division 
Directorate General Communications
EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
Tel: +49 69 1344 1300
Email: [7][email address]
[8]www.ecb.europa.eu
[9]www.bankingsupervision.europa.eu
[10]www.youtube.com/ecbeuro
[11]twitter.com/ecb
[12]www.linkedin.com/company/european-central-bank
[13]www.instagram.com/europeancentralbank

 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/...
2. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/...
3. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb/climate/ro...
4. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/...
5. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/...
6. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/tvservic...
7. mailto:[email address]
8. http://www.ecb.europa.eu/
9. http://www.bankingsupervision.europa.eu/
10. http://www.youtube.com/ecbeuro
11. https://twitter.com/ecb
12. https://www.linkedin.com/company/europea...
13. https://www.instagram.com/europeancentra...

Dear ECB staff,

Thank you for your response. I look forward to reading more on the Climate Centre agenda, composition, processes and outreach on your website.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Schreiber
Reclaim Finance

European Central Bank

Dear Sir or Madam,

This is to acknowledge receipt of your email. We will look into the matter raised and respond as appropriate.

Yours faithfully,

Directorate General Communications
EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
Tel: +49 69 1344 1300
Email: [email address]
http://www.ecb.europa.eu
https://www.bankingsupervision.europa.eu
http://www.youtube.com/ecbeuro
https://twitter.com/ecb

Please note that the European Central Bank (ECB) processes your personal data according to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC.
The ECB’s Data Protection Officer at [email address] answers all queries relating to personal data protection