Nidaros Sparebank brings climate risk into lending

Banks across Europe know that climate risk is credit risk. But few have the tools to act on it at the level where lending decisions are actually made: the individual property. Nidaros Sparebank is changing that. The bank has signed an agreement with Telescope, becoming the first bank to use the platform for climate risk assessments in its credit process.

From real estate to banking

Since 2022, Telescope has helped leading real estate companies understand and act on climate risk. Companies like Reitan Eiendom, Bane NOR Eiendom, and Koteng use the platform to manage risk across their property portfolios.

But climate risk does not stop at the property owner. It travels through the entire value chain, from the building itself, to the bank financing it, to the insurer covering it. The connection between real estate and banking has always been central to how we think about climate risk, and signing Nidaros Sparebank confirms that banks are ready to act on it.

What Nidaros Sparebank gets

Through Telescope, Nidaros Sparebank gains access to climate risk data at the individual property level, built on the best available data sources for Norwegian conditions, including flood and water-related data from 7Analytics.

For a bank, this means credit advisors and risk managers can assess a specific address before making lending decisions. Not based on general assumptions, but on actual exposure data.

Risk manager Torleif Lia describes it this way:

"With Telescope, we get a user-friendly platform that improves our assessments of customers' climate risk, based on the market's best data on the most important climate risks from 7Analytics."

The agreement also positions Nidaros Sparebank ahead of incoming regulatory requirements. The EBA's guidelines on ESG risk management will require banks to integrate climate risk into their credit and risk processes. Nidaros is building that capability now.

Climate risk connects real estate, banking, and insurance

The same building sits on the books of an owner, a lender, and an insurer simultaneously. Yet historically, each sector has managed climate risk in isolation, with limited shared data and even less shared practice.

Signing Nidaros Sparebank is a signal that this is changing. It shows that banks are moving from acknowledging climate risk to actually integrating it into daily operations.

"Banks across Europe know that climate risk is credit risk, but there are still too few tools and data sources that make this visible at the asset level, systematically and in a way that works in everyday workflows. That is exactly what we are here to solve, and it is very rewarding to work with forward-leaning banks like Nidaros Sparebank."

Gustav Haaland, CEO and co-founder, Telescope

Want to learn how Telescope can support climate risk assessments in your organisation? Book a meeting.