Koop (2018), ‘An economist’s guide to climate change science’, Journal of Economic Perspectives 32(4), pp. 3–32. Hardin, G. (1968), ‘The tragedy of the commons’, Science 162(3859), pp. 1243–1248. Nordhaus, W.D. (2018), ‘Projections and uncertainties about climate change in an era of minimal climate policies’, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 10(3), pp. 333–360. Böhringer, C., J.C. Carbone and T.F. Rutherford (2016), ‘The strategic value of carbon tariffs’, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 8(1), pp. 28–51. For a critical assessment of the significance and effectiveness of a carbon tax and other instruments, see IMF Fiscal Monitor ‘How to mitigate climate change’, October, pp. 3–13. Page 3/12  But if it is not part of the SNB’s remit to intervene in these issues, why are central banks interested in climate risks? Why are central banks interested in climate risks? To fulfil their mandate, central banks must understand how climate change risks influence the functioning of the economy and the financial system – and hence price stability and financial stability. Economists classify climate risks into two categories: physical risks and transition risks. Physical risks include the direct material effects of climate change on income and production capacity. For example, severe storms can damage factories and transport infrastructure and disrupt value chains that are essential to international trade. In the first instance, physical risks cause supply shocks. These shocks result in a drop in production in the affected sectors and tend to engender temporary price increases.

Besides the obvious economic crimes such as drug trafficking and corruption, governments also need to fight against economic and financial crimes in every other shape and form. Any type of such crimes can generate feelings of resentment about an unfair society, not just the drug trafficking cases. Stock price manipulation, insider trading, or tax evasion, which even though do not directly harm people's lives, can still make people feel slighted. This is especially so if these white-collar perpetrators are quite influential or are close friends with politicians or the administrations. In all these cases, the role model set by the government is the most important element in winning people's confidence that the government is truly and sincerely committed to fighting against economic and financial crimes. If the perpetrators are members of the government, swift and decisive actions taken against them will make society confident in the government's policy on this issue and thus encourage law enforcement officers to fearlessly do the right things. What I have been talking about so far concerns economic crimes within a country. Things get more complicated and much more difficult to combat when it comes to cross-border economic crimes. These require close cooperation of law enforcement authorities in every country. Today's United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice is a good example of the collaboration effort at the international level. To combat transnational crime, the willingness to collaborate is strong when authorities hold the same view on such crimes.