Barclays has expanded its agreement with environmental analytics business Groundsure to start screening commercial transactions in the UK for environmental and climate change risks.

Groundsure has been working with Barclays since 2006, providing the bank with a definitive opinion on lending security in relation to flooding and contaminated land. The new, extended agreement sees the introduction of the new Siteguard Climate report, which includes a four-tier risk assessment summary with explicit opinions on environmental liability, loan security risks and potential property value impacts.

It also provides an assessment on the current physical climate risk from flooding and projected forward over the medium term.

Dan Montagnani, CEO of Groundsure, said: “We are extending our already long and trusted relationship with Barclays to help them manage their current and forward exposure to environmental risks – especially in the context of greater compliance and due diligence requirements.

“Forward-thinking major banks are looking at how they are going to respond to the Bank of England expectations on embedding approaches to climate related financial risk. We will be helping Barclays meet their compliance obligations – for both environmental and broader climate impacts – ensuring they are well-positioned to manage this, at scale, for their commercial portfolio.

“This deal means we are working with three of the big six lenders and positions us as the UK’s authority on environmental risk and the country’s leading environmental analytics business.”

Ania Musial, VP environment & climate risk – group risk at Barclays, said: “Ensuring we can walk into high value commercial lending with eyes fully open about legacy environment and forward physical climate risks is a vital part of our governance and credit risk approach.

“Our long and successful relationship with Groundsure has ensured that many thousands of transactions have been effectively screened with their analytics and data intelligence. Now, we can take a longer view ahead to account for the potential impact that the climate will play on these lending decisions with greater confidence.”