Webinar: How Banks Can Build EBA-Aligned Sustainability Risk Integration for Corporate Lending

Why banks must define credit-relevant sustainability risk before they can industrialise data collection, questionnaires, and automation

20 May 2026 @ 14.00 – 15.00 (CET)

Banks are under growing pressure to integrate ESG risks into governance, risk management, strategy and credit processes. The EBA’s final Guidelines make this a prudential banking issue, not a peripheral reporting exercise.

But in corporate lending, many institutions still start in the wrong place: with questionnaires, data requests or automation, before they have defined the sustainability risks they are trying to assess.

In this webinar, sustainAX’ Dag will explain and discuss with Jørund how banks can move from generic ESG information collection toward a more structured, explainable and EBA-aligned approach to sustainability risk integration in corporate lending. Jørund will bring his experience from working with this inside the bank.

The webinar will be recorded.

Who should attend
This webinar is relevant for bank executives, Chief Risk Officers, heads of credit, credit risk teams, corporate lending teams, compliance functions, ESG risk specialists and teams working on EBA-aligned risk management.

What we will cover

What the EBA Guidelines mean for sustainability risk integration in banks
Why banks need to define credit-relevant sustainability risk before collecting debtor information
Why generic sustainability questionnaires often fail to produce decision-useful insight
Why climate-risk-only approaches are too narrow for corporate lending
Why automation and AI workflows need deterministic risk logic to be reliable and explainable
How banks can move toward consistent, portfolio-scale sustainability risk assessment

Q&A
There will be an opportunity to ask questions during the webinar.

The speakers

Dag A.D. Messelt

Dag has over 30 years’ experience from financial markets and asset management, including equity and fixed income investments. His work has focused on technically demanding investment and advisory roles, with extensive experience translating complex financial, regulatory, climate risk, and sustainability risk issues into practical decision-making frameworks.

Since 2019, Dag has worked extensively with sustainable and responsible investment, including coordinating and driving the development of SRI at Alfred Berg Asset Management, a Nordic subsidiary of BNP Paribas Asset Management. His current work focuses on ESG risk methodology, financial materiality, and how banks and investors can understand sustainability risk for integration into larger risk assessment, credit processes, and investment decisions in a consistent and explainable way.

Dag is a member of the EFFAS ESG Review Panel, which oversees the quality and relevance of the CESGA Certified ESG Analyst programme. He holds master-level business education from NHH in Norway and HEC in France, and is a Certified European Financial Analyst, Certified ESG Analyst, and Certified Climate Risk Analyst.

Jørund Buen

Jørund has over 25 years’ experience at the intersection of sustainability strategy, environmental markets, risk management, and banking. His work has consistently focused on translating complex regulatory, financial, and sustainability-related issues into practical strategies, risk frameworks, and credit-relevant decision-making tools.

As Director of Sustainability at SpareBank 1 Sør-Norge, one of Norway’s largest banks, he built the bank’s ESG capabilities from the ground up over six years. He co-developed the SpareBank 1 alliance’s ESG risk module for corporate lending, led the bank’s first full CSRD report, and served as a regular sparring partner to credit advisers and the main credit committee on sustainability risk in individual lending decisions.

Before banking, Jørund co-founded Point Carbon, which grew to become the leading international provider of analysis, news, and data for carbon and energy markets, with 200+ employees across four continents, before being acquired by Thomson Reuters in 2010. He has since co-founded and led several sustainability-focused companies, including Differ, an impact investment and advisory firm in renewable energy.

His current advisory work focuses on ESG risk integration in banking and finance, and how regulatory frameworks, including the EBA Guidelines, EU Taxonomy, and CSRD, translate into practical credit processes and portfolio-level risk assessment.

Jørund holds a degree in political science from NTNU, is a Certified ESG Analyst (CESGA) through EFFAS, and has completed NHH Executive’s programme in Sustainable Financial Analytics.

Patrik Dahlén

Patrik has extensive experience from financial markets, including equity research, specialist sales, analyst roles, and account management for some of the world’s largest fund managers. His background gives him a strong understanding of how institutional investors assess companies, risks, disclosures, and long-term value creation.

His work with sustainability risk began in the late 2010s, as major investors increasingly started asking for ESG-related investment ideas and company insights. Since then, he has worked on sustainability risk projects supporting both investors and companies, with a particular focus on helping businesses understand, communicate, and manage sustainability-related expectations from capital providers.

Patrik holds a master’s degree in Leadership for Sustainability from Malmö University and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the Stockholm School of Economics. He is a Certified ESG Analyst through EFFAS and a Certified Sustainability Professional through the Global Reporting Initiative.