transition to a green and low - carbon economy. https : / / www. ipcc. ch / sr15 / m. nachmany & j. setzer, ‘ global trends in climate change legislation and litigation : 2018ssnapshot ’, grantham research institute report, may 2018, p. 5. the work of the european committee on disclosure requirements is also something we encourage as a financial supervisor. it contributes to more insight into - and transparency about - climate - related risks and exposures of financial companies under supervision. the network of central banks and regulators for greening the financial system, the ngfs - of which by the way our hosts, the banco de espana where among the first members - the network is growing and growing. it is now almost easier to name the central banks who haven ’ t yet joined, than to give you a full list of all central banks and regulators who share our concerns. i stand here also in my capacity as chair of this network. the network that in its first publication stated that climate change is a driver of financial risk. the network that stated : taking the consequences of climate change seriously, falls squarely within our mandates as central banks and supervisors. the network that called for action by setting six recommendations to manage risks and scale up green finance. these six recommendations were published in an ngfs report earlier this year, and are already seeing follow - up. next year, we expect to come up with at least three new publications, with which we facilitate the financial sector to assist in reaching the objectives of the paris agreement. one about transition scenarios and guidelines for scenario - based climate risk analysis. and a publication on current environmental risk assessments methodologies. and a guide on integrating climate & environmental risk into supervision. and while exchanging experiences and ideas, the fifty - four ngfs members are also looking closer into risk differentials between green and brown assets, and the market dynamics around green finance. the climate crisis needs to be fought on many fronts. many actors have a vital role to play. governments, private firms, ngos, scientists, consumers, the press... and of course, also the financial sector has a vital role to play : banks, insurance companies, pension funds, investment funds, credit rating agencies. and, and this is why i stand here : also central banks and supervisors have a vital role to play. the good news is, that a growing number of us realises this, and acts upon it. all 54 members of

unprecedented monetary policy measures. liquidity was provided in full allotment, and for longer periods than ever before. interest rates were cut below zero, and several outright purchase programmes were set up. an indicator developed by the dutch central bank shows that our actions were collectively equivalent to cutting short - term interest rates to around - 4 %. 1 faced with severe challenges, the eurosystem responded forcefully. being here in london tonight, allow me to highlight one crucial moment 5 years ago, when the functioning of sovereign debt markets in the euro area was severely undermined in the presence of redenomination risk fears. on july 26, 2012, our president mario draghi gave his famous “ whatever it takes ” speech. shortly after, the ecb announced its outright monetary transactions ( omt ) programme. markets calmed down, in the knowledge that the central bank would intervene if needed. as they quickly realized the futility of speculating against the central bank in its lender - of - last - resort capacity, no purchases whatsoever were required under the omt. this policy was successful on all accounts. christiaan pattipeilohy et al., “ assessing the effective stance of monetary policy : a factor - based approach ”, november 2017. chart 1 : euro area inflation euro area inflation annual percent change - 1 hicp core inflation ( excl food & energy ) stemming a speculative attack on the integrity of your currency is one thing, controlling inflation is clearly a different ballgame. whereas a central bank can credibly promise to do “ whatever it takes ” in lender - of - last - resort capacity, financial markets should not overestimate central banks ’ ability to fine - tune inflation. since the acute crisis abated, euro area inflation has been low and rising only slowly. as chart 1 illustrates, core inflation fluctuated slightly below 1 % between 2014 and early 2017, and has yet to show more convincing signs of a sustained uptick. it is good to realize that stubbornly low inflation is not just a european phenomenon. inflation in the us today, once corrected for imputed housing costs and thereby made comparable to our hicp measure, is actually lower than in the euro area, even though the economic and monetary policy cycles in the us are several years ahead compared to the euro area. the universal nature of subdued inflation is increasingly linked to favourable supply - side developments such as technological advances and globalisation of product, labour and capital markets. the resulting disinflationary