Central banks' commitment to the climate cause may seem obvious today. But few issues have seen such a rapid and massive change. My generation changed its mind, I changed my mind.
This "Green Swan 2021 Global Virtual Conference" co-sponsored by the
Banque de France, the BIS, the IMF and the NGFS should have taken place
in Paris, birthplace of the Climate agreement and of the NGFS, but it is
my pleasure to welcome you online. Central banks' commitment to the
climate cause may seem obvious today. But few issues have seen such a
rapid and massive change. My generation changed its mind, I changed my
mind. Many of us now share the imperative of Hans Jonas: "In your
present choices, include the future wholeness of Man among the objects
of your willi ". In Amsterdam three years ago, for the inaugural
Conference of the NGFS, I referred to greening finance as our "new
frontier for the 21st century". Today, the challenge could almost look
inverted: we have gone from the risk of "doing too little, too late" to
the criticism by some of "too many doing too much". No: we are not doing
too much (I), and we are never too many (II).
But before starting, I would like to draw two useful and cautious
lessons from the above-mentioned criticisms. First, we, central bankers
and supervisors, cannot do everything by ourselves; we are not the only
green game in town. Nothing will replace an appropriate carbon price.
Second, we are acting in the very name of our mandate: our consideration
for climate change is neither an abuse of our mission, nor a mere
militant conviction, and we will act with the same technical credibility
and professionalism as we do in our traditional domains.
BIS
© BIS - Bank for International Settlements
Key
Hover over the blue highlighted
text to view the acronym meaning
Hover
over these icons for more information
Comments:
No Comments for this Article