24 In addition, there are other structural forces, such as population aging, that may impact bond markets and,  hence, the transmission of monetary policy. See, for example, Praet, P. (2018), “Economic policymaking under uncertainty", speech at the “la Caixa” Chair for Economics and Society conference, Madrid, 17 October. 25 Our actions to protect the environment begin with reducing our own ecological footprint. In 2007 we adopted an  environmental policy and registered with the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme. For more, see ECB (2018), “2018 update of the ECB’s Enviornmental Statement”, October. 26 See, for example, Villeroy de Galhau, F. (2015), “Green Finance – A New Frontier for the 21st Century”, speech  given at the international climate risk conference for supervisors, Amsterdam, 6 April; and Knot, K. (2017), “Sustainability: a role for central banks?”, speech at the CEP/DNB workshop ‘Central banking & Green Finance’, Amsterdam, 28 November. 27 For example, we are part of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. The ECB is also a member of a technical expert group that is assisting the European Commission in establishing an EU-wide classification system, or taxonomy, for green assets. This taxonomy has the potential to increase transparency, discourage “greenwashing” and improve market pricing of both climate and transition risks. See European Commission (2018), “Action plan: financing sustainable growth”, March. 28 For a more general overview, see ECB (2006), “Portfolio Management at the ECB”, Monthly Bulletin, April.

That is, once markets and credit risk agencies price climate risks properly, the amount of collateralised borrowing counterparties can obtain from the ECB will be adjusted accordingly. We have also joined the Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System. ECB staff are contributing in all three work streams. My presence here today emphasises that we take our membership seriously. The Network will play an important role in coordinating work among central banks and in defining and promoting best practices. Finally, we are also supporting work on sustainable finance-related topics at the level of the G20. Central bank asset portfolios differ in their ability to support sustainable investment The second step relates to incorporating these best practices into our own activities. Most central banks typically own and manage three different types of asset portfolios: one dedicated to pension funds, a second related to the central bank’s own funds, and a third covering foreign exchange reserves. More recently, some central banks, including the ECB, have also built up separate monetary policy portfolios, resulting from the need to preserve price stability when the room for manoeuvre with conventional policy instruments had become constrained. Not all of these portfolios are, however, equally suited to promoting green finance. For our pension fund portfolio, we have already taken concrete steps. The broad investment universe and longer-term investment horizon allow us to pursue a sustainable investment policy based on selective exclusion and proxy voting guidelines.