Climate Week: Energy Efficient Mortgage Initiative Stakeholders Meet in Venice to Discuss the Creation of an Energy Efficient Mortgage Label

In this important Climate Week, the European Mortgage Industry is launching the steps necessary to create an Energy Efficient Mortgage Label in the near future. The pilot scheme lending institutions, Advisory Council and supporting organisations of the Energy Efficient Mortgages Initiative (EEMI) are meeting in Venice to further advance efforts to mobilise European and global mortgage markets with a view to channelling private financing to ‘green’ the building stock in the EU and beyond. The EEMI represents an important market response to the recently announced EU Green Deal and will support global implementation.

Bringing together 47 key lending institutions, 17 national, European and International authorities and a multitude of relevant market stakeholders, the EEMI is a robust and concrete, market led initiative which will deliver an integrated ‘ecosystem’ in energy efficient mortgages with significant transformative potential.

Over the next two days in Venice, EEMI stakeholders will focus on: (1) taking forward a data collection, processing and disclosure infrastructure to support lending institutions in integrating energy efficiency into risk management and credit risk processes, (2) harnessing the potential for enhanced private and public sector coordination and (3) developing an energy efficient mortgage label.

In parallel to these events, Ca' Foscari University, a key long-standing partner of the EEMI, is organising a conference on Assessing & Managing Climate Change Risk, bringing together experts from across the globe to discuss how finance can support the achievement of global climate objectives. Among these eminent experts are Nobel Prize winner Robert Engle and the Governor of the Bank of Italy, Ignazio Visco.

With the commonality of objectives in mind, this high-level event presents a further valuable opportunity to exchange views and best practice and to work towards a climate neutral future together.

Luca Bertalot, Energy Efficient Mortgages Initiative Coordinator, commented:

“The EU mortgage industry is committed to supporting European efforts to achieve a climate neutral continent by 2050 under the EU Green Deal. 47 lending institutions are ready to take the lead through concrete actions intended to develop market synergies and unlock the potential of the EU’s mortgage markets to finance the energy improvement of the EU’s building stock. In this way, the EEMI will help the EU to meet its decarbonisation objectives, modernise the economy, revitalise industry and ensure long-term growth and employment. It will also help to secure healthier homes for EU citizens”.

Monica Billio, Head of Department, Department of Economics, Ca’ Foscari University, said:

“It is a great pleasure to once again host the Energy Efficient Mortgages Initiative in Venice. As a long-standing partner and with its expertise in green finance, econometrics and risk management, Ca’ Foscari University remains committed to providing support and guidance to the EEMI lending institutions in integrating sustainability considerations into their day-to-day business”.

Notes to the Editor:

About the Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM) Initiative

The Energy Efficient Mortgages (EEM) Initiative consists of:

• The Energy Efficient Mortgages Action Plan (EeMAP) Initiative
• The Energy Efficiency Data Portal & Protocol (EeDaPP) Initiative

The Energy Efficient Mortgages Action Plan (EeMAP) Initiative – led by the European Mortgage Federation-European Covered Bond Council (EMF-ECBC), Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, RICS, the Europe Regional Network of the World Green Building Council, E.ON and SAFE Goethe University Frankfurt – aims to create an energy efficient mortgage through which homebuyers are incentivised to improve the energy efficiency of their building or acquire an already energy efficient property by way of favourable conditions linked to the mortgage. The cornerstone of the initiative is the assumption that energy efficiency has a risk mitigation effect for banks as a result of the impact on a borrower’s ability to service his/her loan and on the value of the property, a correlation which the EeMAP Initiative will seek to substantiate.

The Energy Efficiency Data Protocol and Portal (EeDaPP) Initiative – led by European Mortgage Federation-European Covered Bond Council (EMF-ECBC), Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, CRIF, European DataWarehouse, Hypoport, SAFE Goethe University Frankfurt and TXS – aims to design and deliver a market-led protocol, which will enable the large-scale recording of data relating to energy efficient mortgage assets, via a standardised reporting template. The data will be accessed by way of a common, centralised portal, allowing for continuous tracking of the performance of the energy efficient mortgage assets, thereby also facilitating the earmarking of such assets for the purposes of energy efficient bond issuance.

For additional information on the pioneers, please visit: Pilot Scheme

The EeMAP and EeDaPP projects have received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 746205 and No 784979.

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Contact information

Luca Bertalot , Energy Efficient Mortgages Initiative Coordinator
E: lbertalot@hypo.org
Tel: +32 2 285 40 35