Climate change-related risks for financial intermediaries. Management practices, analysis of measurement models and European monitoring and comparison.

Climate change risks are increasingly affecting the stability and resilience of banks and insurance companies in the European sustainable finance environment. In this framework, the thesis analyzes the relationship between ESG factors, climate risks and the performance of European financial intermediaries in the period 2017–2024, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. The empirical part is based on a balanced dataset, extracted from the Refinitiv LSEG database, relating to European financial intermediaries. Through balanced panel data models, the relationship between sustainability and financial stability is examined, using indicators such as ROA, ROE and ESG score. Alongside the empirical analysis, the thesis develops a systematic and bibliometric review of the literature using tools such as Bibliometrix, Biblioshiny and VOSviewer demonstrating the growing academic and institutional focus on climate risks and sustainable finance by exploring the evolution of the European regulatory framework on sustainability reporting, prudential supervision and climate risk assessment methodologies. The results obtained have therefore highlighted the increasingly central role of sustainable finance in supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy where, the integration of ESG factors and climate risks is relevant for the long-term resilience and stability of the financial sector. Finally, the thesis dedicates a section to cybersecurity, understood as an emerging dimension of operational resilience, highlighting its growing link with ESG factors and with the management of climate risks within financial intermediaries.