As part of the preparations for drawing up the Sustainability Statement for the year 2025, we reviewed the assumptions and updated the conclusions from the double materiality assessment. The results of the assessment form the basis for our actions and for setting the Bank’s strategic objectives for the future.
Managing Impacts, risks and opportunities [IRO-1]
Description of the process to identify and assess material impacts, risks and opportunities
In the process of preparing the Sustainability Statement in accordance with the ESRS requirements for the year 2024, we conducted a double materiality assessment for the first time, in order to identify, for the Bank and the entire Pekao Group, the key stakeholder groups as well as the material impacts, risks and opportunities related to sustainability matters.
The first double materiality assessment process was carried out in 2024 by a project team representing the Bank’s key units, and the whole process was overseen by the Steering Committee, comprising the Bank’s Department Directors and representatives of the Management Board. At regular meetings, the Steering Committee monitored progress and compliance with the adopted methodology. The results were discussed and approved by the Steering Committee. The process of reviewing and updating the double materiality assessment was carried out in 2025 by a project team representing the Bank’s key units. The results of this process were discussed and approved by the ESG Council.
The assessment was conducted in accordance with the ESRS requirements and took into account two perspectives: impact materiality and financial materiality of the Group’s activities in relation to sustainability matters, as well as the impact of individual matters on our financial performance in the future. To ensure consistency with the Bank’s risk management approach, the risk area actively participated in the process and was involved in identifying and assessing risks and opportunities, including setting materiality thresholds for ESG risks and opportunities, so that in the coming years ESG risks and opportunities can be fully integrated into the Group’s existing risk management system,.
When conducting the assessment, we divided the work into four stages:
- identifying material sectors of activity and mapping the value chain,
- analysing existing data, including market context (benchmarking) and stakeholder dialogue, and assessing impact materiality,
- assessing the financial materiality of risks and opportunities,
- matrix analysis of results and updating the list of ESG topics that are material from the Pekao Group’s perspective.
We carried out the double materiality assessment using various research tools, involving:
- the Bank’s experts, who assessed the organisation’s impacts and financial materiality,
- key internal and external stakeholders, through a survey concerning sustainability matters,
- selected members of the Bank’s management team, with whom structured interviews were conducted, as well as a peer benchmarking analysis, an analysis of ESG ratings, and industry reports.
The sector identification methodology was based on the latest version of the ESRS, as well as the publicly available EFRAG sector classification. To identify sectors, we assumed a threshold of >10% of revenue in the last financial year. The sector survey was constructed based on EFRAG recommendations (the Exposure Draft European Sustainability Reporting Standard SEC1 – Sector classification and General approach to sector specific ESRS).
The Group’s key stakeholders were selected based on a questionnaire survey (16 stakeholder groups), in which two parameters were assessed:
- the impact of the Pekao Group on a given stakeholder group,
- the interest of a given stakeholder group in the Pekao Group.
As a result of analysing the responses and mapping stakeholders, we identified nine key stakeholder groups.
The impact materiality assessment was performed in stages, starting with an analysis of sustainability reports published by peer entities, an analysis of ESG ratings and an analysis of sector reports, as well as interviews with key internal stakeholders. The materiality assessment methodology included a comprehensive examination of the Pekao Group’s impacts on its environment and the verification of:
- the timing of the impact,
- the scale of the impact,
- the likelihood of the impact,
- the scope of the impact,
- the reversibility of the impact.
To ensure the most neutral approach possible, the analysis used a variety of data sources, including:
- interviews with internal stakeholders,
- a benchmarking analysis, which included:
- benchmarking of sustainability reports published by peer entities,
- benchmarking of sector reports,
- benchmarking of ESG ratings,
- an anonymous survey among stakeholders (internal and external stakeholders).
With respect to the above criteria required by the ESRS standards and based on the data obtained enabling an initial indication of potentially material topics, we carried out a final impact assessment at the Bank, under which we analysed all ESRS topical standards. However, we assumed that for topical standards whose non-materiality was confirmed in the preliminary analyses, the Group’s impact on stakeholders may be deemed non-material. For actual negative impacts, materiality was based on the severity of the impact (scale, scope, irreversibility), and for potential negative impacts – on severity and likelihood.
For positive impacts, the basis for their assessment was the scale and scope of the impact for actual impacts, and the scale, scope and likelihood for potential impacts. For each of the above impact assessment categories, we used a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 represents the minimum value and 5 the maximum. We considered topics material if, on average, they scored more than half of the total possible points in the impact assessment and were validated through the preliminary analyses. For topics that achieved the required minimum points in the self-assessment but were not identified as material in the preliminary analyses, we re-assessed them with the project team’s judgement.
As part of the 2025 review process of the double materiality assessment, the following elements were updated:
- benchmarking analysis of sustainability reports published by peer entities – available ESRS-compliant reports published for the year 2024 by Polish and European banks were used,
- the Bank’s expert impact assessment – the initial long list of impacts considered was updated, among other things, to better balance the range of positive and negative impacts, as well as to include quantitative contextual information supporting the materiality assessment; the expert assessment of the materiality of impacts conducted during internal workshops was also updated. A description of how these changes affected the list of material impacts, risks and opportunities is provided in the section [Material impacts, risks and opportunities and their interrelationships with strategy and the business model (SBM-3)].
In addition, as part of the 2025 review process of the double materiality assessment, we took into account the following elements in relation to risks and opportunities:
- the risk materiality analysis was aligned with the assumptions arising from the EBA Guidelines on ESG risk management (in particular, to reflect at least a 10-year time horizon in the analysis, to integrate financial materiality levels with the ICAAP process, and to identify ESG risk transmission channels to traditional risks indicated in the EBA Guidelines, i.e. credit risk (including concentration risk), market risk, liquidity risk, operational risk, reputational risk and business model risk),
- the scale used to assess the financial materiality of risks and opportunities was redefined from a qualitative scale to a quantitative scale, with monetary thresholds linked to the ICAAP process,
- the initial long list of risks and opportunities, in terms of:
- defining risks as potential consequences of negative impacts and opportunities as potential possibilities arising from positive impacts (during workshop discussions in the DMA process, no ESG risks or opportunities unrelated to negative or positive impacts were identified),
- including quantitative contextual information in the list to support the materiality assessment (e.g. sectoral concentration of the credit portfolio, amounts of operational losses, etc.),
- a prudent assumption under which monetary opportunities were not identified in relation to positive impacts resulting from our regulatory / compliance activities, which primarily serve to reduce risk and the occurrence of negative impacts, and are not necessarily activities that can actively contribute to increasing the Pekao Group’s revenues.
Description of the processes for identifying and assessing material impacts, risks and opportunities related to climate
We presented the materiality of climate-related impacts and opportunities in line with the approach described in detail in the previous section.
As part of the impact materiality assessment, we considered our impacts on climate across the value chain. In the context of analysing negative impacts, we considered in particular the sources of greenhouse gas emissions within our value chain. Taking into account the specific nature of the banking sector, we identified that a material actual negative impact is exerted through indirect greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the activities of our financed clients. With reference to the Strategy, we also identified that we exert a material positive impact related to increasing volumes of environmentally sustainable financing that supports the reduction of financed GHG emissions.
In connection with this material positive impact, we also identified a material financial opportunity under the “climate change mitigation” subtopic, relating to the expectation of increased revenues from offering financial products that support the reduction of GHG emissions and accelerate the transition of the Group’s clients to a low-carbon economy, in line with the objective set out in the Strategy.
We present further details on greenhouse gas emissions in our value chain in subsection [E1-6].
Description of the process in relation to climate risk
We also analysed climate-related risks in detail:
Physical risk
For physical risks, the identification and assessment performed as part of the financial materiality analysis was based, in accordance with the requirements of Article 20. b) i., AR 11, on a high-emissions climate scenario (SSP5-8.5). An analysis was carried out of the concentration of Pekao Group credit exposures in locations with elevated physical risk according to ThinkHazard.org maps (where, for real estate-secured exposures, the location of the collateral was analysed, and for other exposures, the location of the borrower’s registered office). The results of the analyses concerning our (downstream) portfolio, on the basis of which we concluded that physical risk is non-material for our portfolio, are published in the reports: Information on the capital adequacy of Bank Pekao S.A. Group – these include, among other things, exposure volumes and impairment by hazard type and sector. With respect to our own operations and the upstream part of the value chain, we considered physical risk to be non-material on the basis of a qualitative analysis supported by physical risk maps that take into account prospective risk aspects arising from climate scenarios, and by empirical observations regarding operational losses due to natural disasters.
Transition risk
For transition risk, we first analysed, in accordance with the Guidelines on ESG risk management, the sectoral concentration of our portfolio in sectors A–H and L (i.e. sectors that contribute significantly to climate change), with particular focus on exposures to fossil fuel sectors. We also considered our analyses related to developing the portfolio Transition Plan in line with the requirements indicated by the EBA Guidelines on ESG risk management, as well as indicators of alignment of the high-emission sectors we finance with the Net Zero 2050 scenario. We conducted climate transition risk stress tests for the first time in Q4 2025 in line with the timetable of our internal project to implement the aforementioned EBA Guidelines. We describe the key assumptions in the disclosure concerning the resilience analysis of our strategy and business model in section [SBM-3]. The results of this forward-looking quantitative analysis confirm our conclusion that transition risk in the credit portfolio is material in the long-term time horizon. With respect to our own operations and the upstream part of the value chain, we considered transition risk to be non-material, as the Pekao Group does not operate in any of sectors A–H and L, and we also observe that our carbon footprint in this area is negligible compared to the carbon footprint resulting from our credit portfolio.
Description of the processes for assessing the materiality of impacts, risks and opportunities related to environmental matters other than climate
For the remaining topics, we analysed:
Summary
As a result of the assessment, we identified:
- the Pekao Group’s classification within a single sector: Credit institutions in the macro-sector Financial institutions;
- 9 (nine) key stakeholder groups;
- 4 (four) material ESRS topics (E1, S1, S4, G1) and 25 (twenty-five) material impacts, 2 (two) material opportunities and 2 (two) material risks. Most material impacts (17) relate to the social pillar and focus on aspects connected with own workforce (10) and consumers and end-users (7). Under the environmental pillar, we identified two material impacts related to climate; and under the corporate governance pillar we identified 6 (six) material impacts. Material financial opportunities relate to climate change mitigation and the accessibility of services for our customers. In turn, the material risks relate to:
- the potentially material effect of climate-related transition risk on credit risk (including concentration risk) of our portfolio in the long-term time horizon,
- the elevated risk of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) imposing fines as a result of practices applied by the Bank, including those related to free credit sanction and unauthorised transactions.