as for all those in positions of responsibility in this country, there is one topic that is becoming more and more important : the transition to a climate - neutral economy. the urgency and significance of this issue is now clear, especially after this past summer, which saw the most sunshine since records began [ in 1881 ], with temperatures well above average and considerable drought. “ heißzeit ”, or “ hot age ”, playing on the german for “ ice age ”, was the german word of the year in 2018 – and, unfortunately, it has not lost any of its relevance in 2022. the transition to a climate - neutral economy is urgently needed. furthermore, this would help to free germany from its crippling dependence on russian gas – another reason to press ahead with full force. savings banks are helping to fund this transition. after all, it is not least bank loans that allow the many small and medium - sized enterprises in germany to be part of the green transition. however, the savings banks group has also identified a number of other ways in which it can play a part. these are set out in its “ commitment by german savings banks to climate - friendly and sustainable business practices ”. by early august, more than 230 savings banks and 14 affiliated institutions had signed up to this commitment. i hope that many more institutions will add their signatures, too. the german savings banks association should support its members in upholding this commitment as well as systematically and successfully managing the associated risks. however, not only savings banks, but also other banks as well as central banks have been paying greater attention to climate and sustainability risks for some time now. with regard to the climate, there are two very different types of risk involved here. first, there are the risks arising from the direct, physical repercussions of climate change – from the banks ’ perspective, these could be risks associated with real estate financing in areas facing a greater threat from flooding. however, there are also risks resulting from urgently needed climate policies and structural change towards climate neutrality. at its core, it is about ensuring that the costs of greenhouse gas emissions are no longer borne by society as a whole, but by the emitters themselves. this may make certain business models unprofitable and sooner or later lower the value of those enterprises ’ shares or bonds. this means that climate risks are financial risks, too. they need to be made transparent on financial institutions ’ balance sheets, and this is what we as supervisors

3. dominic cucic will present a paper showing that bank customers do indeed redistribute their deposits when deposit insurance limits change. 8 credible and reliable deposit insurance helps to prevent bank runs and preserve financial stability. 3 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches in the euro area, we currently have deposit insurance at the national level. adding a european layer in the form of a hybrid model would help prevent situations where large shocks overwhelm national deposit insurance systems and lead to cross - border contagion. as a european layer should be risk - based, large exposures of banks to individual sovereigns are an issue. currently, many banks hold a disproportionately large number of bonds issued by their domestic governments. if this were to continue, a common deposit insurance arrangement could lead to a redistribution of sovereign solvency risks. in my view, the new eu legislative session provides a good opportunity to move forward on both issues : with a reduction in banks'exposures to individual sovereigns, and a common european deposit insurance system. 5 central bank interventions and market behaviour session 4 of this conference focuses on the impact of central bank interventions on market behaviour. both papers in this session underline that such central bank measures need to be carefully designed. 9 central banks have taken a wide range of non - standard monetary policy measures to ensure sufficient monetary stimulus at the effective lower bound. but in the medium to long term, such policies may lead to inefficiencies. these could arise in financial markets themselves or in the allocation of resources affected by the boost to lending. this makes it all the more important to evaluate the instruments used and the lessons learned. it is therefore very fitting that we are currently carrying out a strategy review in the eurosystem. amongst other things, this will provide an opportunity to critically review the quantitative easing policies we have seen in the past. the extensive bond purchases contributed to price stability in an era of low inflation, but they were also associated with numerous side effects in financial markets. without prejudging the outcome of the review, i think their use should be limited to exceptional circumstances. 6 conclusion ladies and gentlemen, the conference concludes with a panel discussion on the ecb's new operational framework. as i have already expressed my views on this on a different occasion, 10 i will end my speech by expressing my gratitude. thanks to the organisers from the bundesbank and humboldt university for setting up this conference. thanks to the presenters,