ECB President Christine Lagarde said the central bank was creating a team of around 10 staff, reporting directly to her, to set the agenda on climate-related topics. “Climate change can create short-term volatility in output and inflation through extreme weather events, and if left unaddressed can have long-lasting effects on growth and inflation,” Lagarde noted.
Executive Board member Fabio Panetta also said, ECB has already taken steps on contributing to environmental policies in the implementation of monetary policy. For example, “sustainable finance instruments – the sustainability-linked bonds – among the collateral that can be used in refinancing operations” were included.
Additionally, “the ECB has to protect its balance sheet from the financial risks caused by climate change that are not correctly priced by the markets,” Panetta added. “By performing its own analysis of these risks on the basis of rigorous methodologies, the ECB can contribute to the accurate valuation of these climate-related risks and promote awareness among investors, thereby helping to combat climate change. These issues are currently being considered as part of our monetary policy strategy review.
