speech the embrace of the horizon : forcefully moving with the changing tide for climate action in financial sector policies speech by frank elderson, chair of the central banks and supervisors network for greening the financial system, member of the executive board and vice - chair of the supervisory board of the ecb, at the green swan conference – coordinating finance on climate frankfurt am main, 3 june 2021 many thanks to the organisers for inviting me to address this conference with so many distinguished speakers. i am truly honoured to have the opportunity to speak at this important event and to discuss the immediate action the financial sector can and should take in the light of the ongoing climate crisis. allow me to start with one disclaimer. as an executive board member of the european central bank, i am also a member of its governing council. today is the first day of what we call the “ quiet period ” leading up to next week ’ s monetary policy meeting of the ecb. against this backdrop, i want to emphasise that nothing i say today has any bearing on the deliberations of the governing council. instead, in the true spirit of this conference, i would like to talk about swans. let me tell you a brief story about the bewick ’ s swan. this swan has its breeding grounds in the russian tundra and spends its winters in north - west europe. until around fifty years ago, it would typically spend winter in ireland, the united kingdom and the netherlands. however, research published last year by the netherlands institute of ecology has shown that the bewick ’ s wintering area has since shifted eastwards by around 600 - 700 kilometres. [ 1 ] this move coincided with a similar shift eastwards of the line across europe marking where the temperature is around five degrees celsius in winter. this is just one specific example of how climate change is having an impact on our ecosystem. one specific example of how climate change is affecting the incidence and distribution of swans. and one specific example that the change is real. the green swan today, however, we are not talking about the bewick ’ s swan, but rather the “ green swan ”, by which we mean potential, systemic financial crises that stem from climate - related risks. this concept takes its name from the theory of the black swan. it is a metaphor for unexpected events that have a wide - ranging impact on society that can only be explained with hindsight. this phenomenon was brilliantly described by nassim nicholas taleb [ 2

speech europe as a common shield : protecting the euro area economy from global shocks keynote speech by fabio panetta, member of the executive board of the ecb, at the european parliament ’ s innovation day “ the eu in the world created by the ukraine war ” brussels, 1 july 2022 i am very pleased to be taking part in this event, even though i unfortunately cannot do so in person. i would like to thank european parliament secretary - general klaus welle for his kind invitation. as an eu institution, the ecb is accountable to the citizens of europe via the european parliament. and our two institutions have quickly learnt one of the key lessons of the covid - 19 crisis : physical distance need not imply intellectual distance. thanks to technology, since the outbreak of the pandemic i have participated in several virtual hearings of the committee on economic and monetary affairs to discuss the ecb ’ s work on a digital euro. the digital euro is a key innovation for serving the interests of europeans in a digital world. it would provide easy, costless and safe access to central bank money for daily digital payments, just as cash does for physical transactions today. co - legislators can ensure that the european union supports modernisation and progress in a way that is fully aligned with european values and interests. for the digital euro, they will legislate on key aspects such as the protection of privacy and legal tender status. but the digital euro is just one example. promoting socially desirable innovation does not only apply to technology. it also applies to institutions. we need to continuously modernise the “ technology ” that underpins the functioning of our union, from its governance to its economic architecture. this is crucial if we are to enhance our resilience to global shocks and safeguard european sovereignty. ultimately, this is about protecting our society and guaranteeing that it can continue to enjoy peace, freedom and prosperity in spite of the geo - economic disruptions that we are facing with russia ’ s aggression against ukraine, the commodity and energy price shock and the threats to international cooperation and multilateralism. if we are to overcome these formidable challenges, we must be united. the lesson of history is that when our actions are inspired by selfishness, and we waste our human, economic and political capital on fuelling internal disputes instead of solving them, we are defeating europe. we are dividing it, weakening its ability to face shocks and shape global outcomes. unity, not fragmentation, makes us strong. two years ago, at