Company: BCDRF
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000891478-25-000054
Chunk: 978

Company: Banco Santander, S.A.
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form: 20-F
Chunk 978
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 our sustainability-related disclosures, including our practices, achievements, metrics, goals and targets or the sustainability characteristics of our products or of our customers, investors or other stakeholders (greenwashing).

• Strategic risks: Our strategy could be affected if we fail to achieve our net-zero or other targets, including those related to the activities that we finance and those concerning our own operations.

As climate risk is interconnected with all key risk types, we have developed and continue to enhance processes to embed climate risk considerations into our core processes and risk management cycle; however, because the timing and severity of climate change may not be predictable and is rapidly evolving, our risk management strategies may not be effective in mitigating climate risk exposure. Additionally, we may become subject to new or heightened regulatory requirements relating to climate change, which may result in increased regulatory, compliance or other costs. As the risks, perspective and focus of regulators, shareholders, employees, and other stakeholders regarding climate change are evolving rapidly, it can be difficult to assess the ultimate impact on us of climate change-related risks, compliance risks, and uncertainties.

We periodically disclose information such as emissions and other climate-related performance data, statistics, metrics and/or targets. If we lack robust and high-quality climate-related procedures, controls and data, we may not be able to disclose reliable climate-related information. In addition, because the climate-related information is based on current expectations and future estimates about Santander's and third-parties' operations and businesses and addresses matters that are uncertain to varying degrees, we may not be able to meet our estimates and targets or we may not be able to achieve them within the timelines we announce. Actual or perceived shortcomings with respect to these emissions and other climate-related initiatives and reporting could result in litigation or regulatory enforcement and impact our ability to hire and retain employees, increase our customer base, and attract and retain certain types of investors.

The exposures in the sectors potentially most affected by climate factors - in accordance with market consensus and the execution of the materiality analysis carried out by the Group - mainly correspond to corporate & investment banking portfolios. The management of these clients, in these sectors, includes, where appropriate and permissible, the consideration of climate aspects in their initial analysis, in the granting of credit, and in the preparation and review of their credit ratings. These ratings influence the parameters that are used to calculate their credit losses (typically via probability of default, PD). Accordingly, when climate factors are relevant, they have an impact, together with other elements of analysis, on the calculations of credit losses that support capital and provisions