Given its central role in helping people to save, borrow, invest or make payments, the financial sector is in a unique and powerful position to contribute beyond climate change, towards the broader sustainability agenda, including helping to end poverty and to reduce inequality. Funding remains a key challenge for many sustainability projects. Thus, the financial sector can be more deliberate in funding sustainability initiatives and incentivising investments in low carbon sectors. There are many such opportunities available. For example, projects under the National Investment Aspirations (NIA) framework, the Malaysian Climate Action Council (MyCAC)'s plan for Malaysia to be a hub in green economy, services and technology and the Low Carbon Mobility Development Plan 2021–2030. 3/5  BIS central bankers' speeches  To meet the funding needs, it will not be sufficient for financial institutions to use traditional instruments. They will need to think creatively to develop new and innovative solutions which also takes into account the current challenges faced by businesses and individuals. Blended finance, for example, is a viable option for businesses that struggle with both the impact of climate change and the losses from the pandemic. In combining concessional financing and commercial funding, such as combining philanthropic funds or social finance instruments and traditional lending, blended finance approaches can avoid excessive debt loads that could increase future risks. There are also significant opportunities for financial institutions to support a green recovery from the pandemic through the provision of transition financing linked to sustainable practices. Climate change is not just a scientific issue.

With increasing dependence on information technology, institutions are faced with numerous threats such as distributed denial of service, malicious hacking and virus attacks which affect vital services provided to customers. Barely a week ago, the vulnerability of major organisations to such attacks was laid bare when a massive “ransomware” virus hit up to 300,000 computers across 150 countries including Malaysia. Judging from its name, the “WannaCry” virus clearly achieved its aim as users found themselves locked out from their computers and their data held at ransom. A host of organisations were left reeling in the wake of these cyber extortion attacks, including the Russian interior ministry, delivery and shipping giant FedEx and the UK’s National Health Service where some hospitals were unable to perform operations, putting patients’ lives at stake. There is also the danger of phishing and stealing of confidential customer data which could destroy the trust placed on your company. Yahoo!, one of the internet’s top sites with a billion monthly users, suffered a massive security breach in 2014 when hackers stole the personal details of at least one billion user accounts. The implications are far-reaching as a stolen digital identity makes us vulnerable to manipulation and undermines the safety of, not just ourselves, but also the ones we love. Bank accounts, social media profiles and even medical information can be abused to put us and our family in harm’s way. In the months following the hacking revelations, more than five billion dollars was wiped off Yahoo’s market capitalisation.