Integration of Climate and Environmental Risk in Credit Portfolios

Xavier Scholten is Deputy Head of Enterprise Risk Management at Banque et Caisse d’Épargne de l’État (BCEE), where he leads the Strategic Risk Management team and oversees the Bank’s Model Development function. His responsibilities span ESG risk management, ICAAP production, and the Risk Appetite Framework. He also guides the development of BCEE’s IRB, IFRS 9 and Pillar II models and has driven the set up of advanced risk simulation and climate stress testing tools. Prior to this role, he served as BCEE’s ESG & Sustainable Finance Expert and previously worked as a consultant in sustainable development and climate finance in Munich. Xavier holds an M.Sc. in Economics from Ludwig Maximilians Universität Munich and is a certified GARP Sustainability & Climate Risk (SCR®) professional.

Robin Marc founded R-Aligned after nearly 24 years of experience in the Financial Industry. He first started in consultancy services in France and Luxembourg within "big five" firms for ten years. He was then Head of Risk Management within a renowned European Private Bank in Luxembourg. Then he became Partner of a well-established Private Equity as CFO and General Secretary. In 2023, Robin set-up R-Aligned, a consultancy specializing in climate and environmental risk management, helping executives and governing bodies of Financial Institutions. Robin is graduated from HEC Paris and Paris II-Assas, and he is certified from GARP SCR and Institut Français du Carbone.

Effy Ritter is Head of Climate Risk at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). She established the Bank’s Climate Risk function and is responsible for embedding climate risk into EBRD’s financial risk management framework. An experienced risk professional with a career spanning global investment banking and multilateral development finance, she brings deep expertise in credit risk, climate stress testing, and client level assessment of physical and transition risks.

She has led the delivery of EBRD’s TCFD aligned disclosures for four years, culminating in the Bank’s first ISSB aligned climate report with limited external assurance. Beyond EBRD, Effy founded joint MDB climate risk working groups to promote transparency, consistency, and collaboration across the sector. She is based in London and holds an M.A. in Finance from Brandeis University.

Shirley Rizk is a finance and risk professional specialising in climate and environmental risk integration in banking. Since 2022 she has led the EIB’s Unit for Climate related and Environmental Risks, overseeing policy integration, model development and regulatory aligned disclosures. Previously at EIB she was Climate Risk Officer, Structured Finance and Equity Credit Officer, and earlier managed a portfolio of complex infrastructure projects across Africa, the Middle East and Russia. She holds executive credentials in Circular Economy & Sustainable Strategies (Cambridge Judge, 2024) and a certificate in Measuring Sustainable Development (SDG Academy, 2024).