We are already in “extra time” as far as this particular match is concerned, and the score is currently not favourable to us. This sense of urgency is widely shared. The COP25’s slogan “Time for Action is now” clearly reflects this. In addition, less than two weeks ago, the European Parliament declared a climate and environmental emergency, calling for reductions in global emissions to be stepped up and demanding more financial support to fight climate change.3 Today we are honoured to have with us Lord Nicholas Stern, who has been a prominent advocate of this urgency for quite some time. It is well known that one of the main research developments in this field was the 2006 report, commissioned by the British government and led by Lord Stern.4 The report concluded that the benefits of strong and early action far outweighed the economic costs of not acting.5 Two of the main findings of the report were that the costs of stabilising climate were significant but manageable, while delayed action was dangerous and much more costly. Importantly, the report concluded that there was still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, if we took strong action. 1  Source: World Meteorological Organization, 3 December 2019, January to October. https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/2019-concludes-decade-of-exceptional-global-heat-and-high-impactweather 2 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2018). 3 European Parliament, press release 29-11-2019. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pressroom/20191121IPR67110/the-european-parliament-declares-climate-emergency 4 http://www.lse.ac.uk/GranthamInstitute/publication/the-economics-of-climate-change-the-stern-review/ 5 https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100407163608/http://www.hmtreasury.gov.uk/d/Summary_of_Conclusions.pdf 2/5  Of course, it is worth repeating that these conclusions were flagged already in 2006, more than thirteen years ago.

Through the NGFS we have been able to share practices and increase our understanding of the implications that climate change has for central banks and supervisors, contributing to the inclusion of these risks in our micro and macro-prudential supervisory 8  Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. 4/5  frameworks. Notably, the NGFS has produced three key reports, which include recommendations not only for central banks and supervisors, but also the industry. We also have today with us the chairman of the NGFS, Mr. Frank Elderson, who is likewise a member of the SSM9 Supervisory Board, where we sit together. I am aware that Frank receives innumerable requests to speak on behalf of the NGFS, so I am also very grateful for his presence here today. Let me conclude. Climate change is a global phenomenon and all of these initiatives evidence the fact that cooperation is key. Of course, official institutions and governments must cooperate, but so too must the public and private sectors. We are all together in the same boat, this planet, so we must also learn and work together to achieve the same shared objective. The Banco de España is aware of the importance of this challenge, and is also developing its own strategy: it is analysing the possible implications of climate change for the stability of the Spanish financial system, assessing data gaps and developing the methodologies and responses it may adopt in its micro and macro-supervisory role.