to lower interest rates. 2 life expectancy has increased and we anticipate spending a longer period in retirement. population growth is falling in the major economies. as a result, gdp growth and investment needs are lower, but we wish to save more. all of this contributes to lower interest rates. digitalisation means that we do our shopping in new ways. e - commerce is becoming increasingly common and websites for price comparison are used regularly. consumption is shifting from goods to services and experiences, often with low marginal costs in production. this leads to increased price competition and to inflationary pressures being lower temporarily. but despite the rapid technological changes, the productivity growth figures have fallen both in sweden and abroad. 3 we are becoming increasingly aware of the problems linked to climate change. this also contributes to changing our consumption and production patterns. the adjustment to such changes may be difficult and may also lead to the measured gdp growth being lower. but this adjustment can also in many ways lead to new markets and new opportunities opening up and to new, large - scale investment needs arising. why are economies slowing down now? we would normally believe that structural changes occur slowly and that they therefore should not be behind a rapid change in the sentiment of the economy. but there are nevertheless many indications that the subdued economic growth and the rapid fall in confidence shown by the indicators over the past year have several links to the structural changes. when the number of trade barriers increases, the opportunities to benefit from economies of scale and international specialisation decline. the uncertainty regarding the rules for international trade dampens the willingness to invest. the uncertainty regarding future regulations and taxation of, for instance, diesel and petrol driven cars reduces demand for them. the intensive discussions on the climate impact of air travel may dampen demand for air travel. in sweden, for instance, travel by domestic flight has declined. monetary policy cannot affect these structural changes or ensure that we attain a certain level of economic growth. some of the changes are unavoidable, for instance because of technological advances. other changes are due to political choices and priorities. see sveriges riksbank ( 2019 ). 2 in the united kingdom, yields on 10 - year real government bonds have fallen from 3. 5 per cent on average in 1985 - 1999 to - 0. 9 per cent in 2010 - 2019. the development has been similar in other countries, including the united states and sweden. in sweden, annual productivity growth has fallen from an average of 2. 6 per cent

assessment of how they work to promote a sustainable climate. indicators of this could be, for instance, their greenhouse gas emissions. this is how we are now beginning to give consideration to sustainability in our new risk and investment policy. we will not invest in assets issued by issuers with a large climate footprint when we are choosing other assets than those best corresponding to our policy need. this has some consequences for the holdings in our foreign exchange reserves. the riksbank has invested around 8 per cent of the foreign exchange reserves in australian and canadian central and federal government bonds, as they give relatively high yield and a good diversification of risk, at the same time as being traded on liquid markets. but australia and canada are countries that are not known for good climate work. greenhouse gas emissions per capita are among the highest in the world, but vary considerably between the different states. for instance, greenhouse gas intensity is more than three times higher in production in alberta than in ontario and quebec. as a result of the new investment policy, we sold our holdings of bonds issued by alberta in the spring. for the same reason, we have recently sold our holdings in bonds issued by the australian states of queensland and western australia. the riksbank needs to develop its work on how to take climate change into consideration in asset management. for instance, we need broader and deeper analysis of the issuers ’ climate footprint. at the same time, one must remember that the foreign exchange reserves are unavoidably dominated by us and german government bonds. the riksbank's contribution to a better development of the climate will therefore remain small. this is entirely natural. the important decisions on how climate change should be counteracted in sweden are political and should be taken by the government and the riksdag ( parliament ). 6 references bank for international settlements ( 2014 ), “ re - thinking the lender of last resort ”, bis papers no 79, monetary and economic department, september 2014. bartsch, elga, jean boivin, stanley fischer, philipp hildebrand ( 2019 ), “ dealing with the next downturn : from unconventional monetary policy to unprecedented policy coordination ”, macro and market perspectives, august 2019, blackrock investment institute. bernanke, ben s. ( 2016 ), “ what tools does the fed have left? part 3 : helicopter money ”, blog post, brookings. bernanke, ben s. ( 2019 ), “ monetary policy in a