From diagnosis to solutions – why does the Polish market need an ESG data HUB?

Redirecting capital flows toward sustainable and low-carbon economic activities is a fundamental goal of sustainable finance. However, for banks, investment funds, and insurance companies to effectively identify green investments and accurately price ESG risks, they need access to reliable, comparable, and standardized data.

It is worth emphasizing that the gradual reduction of reporting requirements for companies does not exempt financial institutions from their regulatory obligation to incorporate ESG factors into their operations. How, then, can we resolve this deadlock and avoid imposing additional bureaucracy on businesses, including SMEs?

The answer is provided by the report "Needs of the Financial Sector Regarding Non-Financial Data: Diagnosis and Recommendations", prepared jointly by POLSIF and the Polish Bank Association (ZBP) as part of the Sustainable Finance Platform operating under the Ministry of Finance.

Key conclusion and recommendation: The creation of a national ESG data hub, powered by information that Polish companies are already submitting to various public registers and institutions.

What will this solution achieve? Reducing reporting burdens for businesses, especially in the SME sector; eliminating the problem of data fragmentation and avoiding the duplication of obligations (so-called double reporting); providing the financial sector with broad access to consistent data necessary for risk assessment and the creation of financial products; and more efficiently redirecting funding toward sustainable transformation projects.

In the final report, you will find, among other things, a catalog of public ESG data registers and a standardized list of non-financial data required by financial institutions under legal regulations – this is a ready-made roadmap for both the financial sector and companies seeking capital.

As POLSIF, together with the Polish Bank Association, we coordinated the work of the task force behind this publication. We would like to extend special thanks and congratulations to the report's substantive editors – our Vice President Robert Sroka and Paweł Makuch. Thank you to all the co-authors for their excellent collaboration: Norbert Jeziolowicz, Dr. Agnieszka Wicha, Dr. Aleksandra Stanek-Kowalczyk, Dr. Anna Rozendaal, Natalia Topczewska, Marta Noran, Agnieszka Boniewicz, Dr. Tomasz Karol Wiśniewski, Aleksandra Rutkowska, Ewa Noja, and Agnieszka Hansdorfer.

The analytical work is behind us — now we are focusing on the next step: actions to materialize and implement the recommendations of the ESG data HUB in the Polish market.

The full report has been published on the Ministry of Finance website. We encourage you to read it!  - https://www.gov.pl/web/finanse/zrownowazonefinanse

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