Banks driving sustainability: Paola Angeletti on climate finance
2 October 2025
“Financial institutions play a pivotal role in channeling funds to finance the right investments, in order to improve the resiliency of the system to climate change,” said Paola Angeletti - Intesa Sanpaolo’s Chief Sustainability Officer - speaking at the “Climate action that works for you - An agenda for competitiveness, prosperity and resilience” conference organized by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA).
Angeletti confirmed Intesa Sanpaolo’s commitment to net zero and emphasized that the Group places sustainability “at the center” of its strategy: it is in fact one of the four key pillars of Intesa Sanpaolo’s 2022-2025 Business Plan.
Moreover, Intesa Sanpaolo “truly believes” in supporting its clients in their transition path, “improving the economy as a whole.”
To be able to continue on this path, however, it is essential “to have a stable, reliable framework in terms of regulations” that allows banks “to work in a predictable environment.”
Other remarks by Intesa Sanpaolo CSO Paola Angeletti:
Regulation: a call for stability and clarity
- “Stability and clarity in regulation” is what the banking sector needs to perform its job
- Banks are “really aware” that they have to manage their own risks while also helping customers in managing their own risks
- As recognised by the ECB Supervisor, banks need data in order to understand the risk profile of their clients and to comply with sector-specific legislation in terms of risk management and disclosure obligations
- While Intesa Sanpaolo supports the simplification effort, it highlights that it is essential to strike a “right balance” between reducing the burden of regulation and reporting, while not losing key information
How to accelerate decarbonization
- Intesa Sanpaolo offers a broad range of products to incentivize investments and those considered “good projects” are encouraged through more attractive financial conditions
- While overall the pricing of a financial product remains market-driven, banks can to a certain extent provide discounts or favorable terms to accelerate the process
Innovation to empower sustainability
- While managing risks, it is important to “intercept business opportunities provided by new technologies that need financing in order to be deployed”
- Fostering innovation by supporting startups can be “a powerful way” to make new technologies available to large companies that do not develop these technologies in-house
- It is really important to develop a culture of sustainability for customers; one way Intesa Sanpaolo does this is through its ESG Labs dedicated to SME customers.
Paola Angeletti spoke on 30 September 2025, in Brussels, at the “Climate action that works for you - An agenda for competitiveness, prosperity and resilience” conference organized by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA).
Last updated 2 October 2025 at 09:52:02
