sabine mauderer : sustainable finance and the availability of good quality data welcome remarks by dr sabine mauderer, member of the executive board of the deutsche bundesbank, at the international conference on statistics for sustainable finance, jointly organised by the bank of france, deutsche bundesbank and the irving fisher committee on central bank statistics, paris, 14 september 2021. * * * 1 introduction good morning ladies and gentlemen, colleagues and friends, i am delighted to be here today. it gives me the opportunity to talk about two subjects close to my heart : sustainable finance and the availability of good quality data. many of us laughed when – almost ten years ago – the harvard business review proclaimed that ‘ data scientist ’ would be the sexiest job of the 21st century. but as we all know, statistics and data have been growing in importance all the time, propelled by fascinating technological changes. enhancements made possible by state - of - the - art statistics and data analytics have become critical factors for success – for businesses and public sector institutions. also for central banks. timely and consistent data are essential for our analyses of trends and shifting patterns in financial markets and the economy at large. i am not exaggerating when i say that the availability of rich and up - to - date data is key to good policymaking. in a similar vein, the market for sustainable finance has grown in leaps and bounds, and the topic is now shifting into the mainstream. who would have thought, just a few years ago, that central banks would include climate change considerations in their monetary policy strategies? many central banks, including the eurosystem, are addressing climate - related risks on their balance sheets and in their roles as supervisors. it will therefore come as no surprise to you that the eurosystem is bundling its efforts to make more climate - related data available for research and analyses, besides developing new collections of statistical data. 2 specific examples as part of my work in the network for greening the financial system, the ngfs, we are pushing hard to improve the global data situation. we recently published a “ dashboard on scaling up green finance ”. this contains a set of 21 indicators, which allows the various stakeholders to track and evaluate progress in greening the financial system. if you are interested in green finance in germany, the bundesbank ’ s own dashboard for green finance indicators can be a treasure trove, and it is easy to find on our website1. 1 / 3 bis central bankers '

average of 3. 4 % in 2023 to 2. 7 % in 2024, 1. 9 % in 2025 and 1. 7 % in 2026. underlying inflation, which in 2023 stood at 4. 1 % in annual average terms, will decline to 2. 2 % in 2024 before falling slightly further over the following two years. the risks to these projections are on the downside as regards activity and are considered to be balanced with respect to inflation. the main source of risk continues to be global geopolitical uncertainty and, in particular, a potential escalation in the ongoing conflicts in ukraine and the middle east. as regards the latter, the flare - up of tensions in the red sea region over the last few months has triggered a sharp increase in shipping costs, coupled with the risk of a possible escalation of the iran - israel conflict. the impact of the cumulative monetary tightening on activity and prices is another significant source of uncertainty. the weakness of economic activity observed in the euro area in recent quarters – more pronounced than expected – could indicate a somewhat stronger transmission of monetary policy than envisaged. also pointing in this direction are the downward surprises in lending to the private sector, of which there have been several in the last few quarters. in addition, the reactivation and reform of the european fiscal rules poses a risk to the baseline scenario of these projections, which could prove significant for the spanish economy, given its high public debt and structural deficit levels. compliance with these rules will require the design and implementation of a medium - term fiscal consolidation plan that allows for a more pronounced correction of the structural public deficit than envisaged in the banco de espana's projections. although the economic impact of this adjustment plan remains uncertain, and will crucially depend on how it is designed, its implementation would likely result in slower economic momentum over the projection horizon. this impact could be lessened if the adjustment went hand in hand with ambitious structural reforms. other significant sources of uncertainty surrounding the baseline scenario of these projections can be found closer to home and relate to potential second - round effects on inflation. first, a larger than expected increase in wages and / or profit margins would entail a higher inflationary path than envisaged under the baseline scenario of these projections. although no signs of feedback loops between prices and wages and / or profit margins have been observed so far, it is important to continue monitoring this situation. this is particularly relevant in a setting in which compensation per