##itical risks and the rise in energy prices. the same can be said for japan. at the same time, through these initiatives, a number of challenges have been identified. from now on, it is important to work on these challenges and steadily make further progress toward decarbonization. 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches ii. recent initiatives in japan and future challenges today, i would like to introduce three ongoing initiatives as prime examples of recent efforts in japan : ( 1 ) assessment of climate - related financial risks in a systematic manner, ( 2 ) enhancement of market functioning, and ( 3 ) support for firms'decarbonization efforts. let me also present my views on future challenges identified through these initiatives. a. assessment of climate - related financial risks in a systematic manner the first initiative is an assessment of climate - related financial risks in a systematic manner. significant progress has been made in scenario analysis, which is useful in comprehensively understanding climate - related financial risks. the network of central banks and supervisors for greening the financial system ( ngfs ) has been updating its climate scenarios every year since the first set of scenarios was released in 2020 ; it has also been working on bridging data gaps. several jurisdictions have already released the results of scenario analyses using the ngfs scenarios. in this regard, let me highlight the fact that, in line with the recommendations of the task force on climate - related financial disclosures ( tcfd ), the three major japanese banks have been disclosing the results of their own scenario analyses in their tcfd reports. this is a pioneering initiative even among global systemically important banks ( g - sibs ). in addition, the financial services agency and the bank of japan jointly conducted scenario analysis as a pilot exercise using common scenarios in cooperation with major financial institutions. 1 the objective of this exercise was to identify issues for future improvement of the analytical method rather than to make a quantitative assessment of climate - related financial risks. scenario analysis has its limitations in the level of sophistication and accuracy, as climate change and decarbonization will have a longterm and far - reaching impact on society, the economy, and on finance. the impact will also be complex and highly uncertain. recognizing such inherent uncertainties, financial institutions should carry out a comprehensive assessment of climate - related financial risks through scenario analysis, and make use of the findings in encouraging their client firms to take necessary steps to address climate change. in fact

playing games in their daily lives. some estimate that over 90 percent of the data produced in the history of humanity have been created in the last two years alone. data processing capabilities have also improved substantially. the importance of data is increasing in a wide range of economic activities and businesses, and it is becoming a new asset which can create added value. in such an environment, cashless payments are gathering great attention as platforms to collect and utilize a variety of data associated with economic transactions. many data - giant companies known as bigtechs, which have grown rapidly in recent years, are starting to provide cashless payment services with a view to collecting and utilizing big - data. crypto - assets and central bank digital currencies meanwhile, we have also witnessed the emergence of new mediums, that is, " virtual currencies " or " crypto - assets. " after the birth of the first crypto - asset, " bitcoin " in 2009, there has been a torrent of newly issued crypto - assets. nowadays there seems to be around 2, 000 types of crypto - assets. crypto - assets have the following common characteristics : they use " distributed " types technologies such as blockchain and distributed ledger technology ( dlt ), they do not have a specific issuer, and they are not denominated in sovereign currency units such as yen, dollar and euro. recently, there are proposals in academic and international forums that central banks should also utilize new technology and issue digital currencies which could be used as alternatives to banknotes. some central banks are now seriously considering whether they should issue such digital currencies. for example sweden, where the use of banknotes is rapidly decreasing, and some emerging and developing countries, where the infrastructure supporting banknotes has not yet fully developed, are now making extensive studies about the issuance of central bank digital currencies. iv. the future of money now, the question arises as to how money will evolve in the future. in view of the rapid pace of technological progress and the drastic change in the environment surrounding payments, settlements, financial services and the economy, it would be difficult for anyone to predict how money will evolve in the future. bearing such constraints in mind, i dare to present my own views on the future of money for discussion, and i will be touching upon the fundamental nature and functions of money discussed in the previous sections. i would like to summarize my remarks into five key