##ionately greater impact of disasters on poorer households. [ 6 ] in the absence of insurance, households will have to rely more on precautionary saving or government transfers. substantial investment is likely to be required to underpin the energy transition, with some estimates running to hundreds of billions of euro each year in the european union alone. meeting that challenge requires contributions from both the public and private sector. the european union has been at the forefront of the global push to substantially reduce carbon emissions. in december 2019, the european commission proposed a european green deal, subsequently endorsed by the european council, that calls for zero net emissions of greenhouse gasses by 2050. this goal enjoys broad public and political support, and the concrete measures required to meet it are now being fleshed out. another field where the european union has taken the lead internationally is on the issuance of green bonds. the european investment bank was the first issuer of green bonds in 2007. in 2018, 31 % of the financing it provided was oriented towards climate mitigation and adaptation. that has helped foster a growing market for green bonds within europe. european entities account for around half of global issuance of green bonds, and around 42 % of the global market is denominated in euro. indeed, green bonds are now approaching 10 % of total euro - denominated bond issuance. the european union also launched a comprehensive action plan in 2018 to promote sustainable finance. that plan is already bearing fruit, including the recent agreement on the taxonomy framework for assessing the sustainability of economic activities. the taxonomy represents an important step towards categorising green investments on a sound and consistent basis and will help underpin further market developments in green finance. but a common approach is needed to mobilise global funding for the transition, while at the same time remaining vigilant against attempts to green wash. unnecessary fragmentation in regulation will impair the sustainable growth of green finance. conclusion the transition to a carbon - neutral economy provides opportunities, not just risks. by shifting the horizon away from the short term and contributing to a more sustainable economic trajectory, the financial sector can become a powerful force acting in our collective best interest. the future path for carbon emissions and the climate is uncertain, but it remains within our power to influence it. as lyndon b. johnson said, “ yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose ”. [ 1 ] source : munich re natcatservice. to an extent

yves mersch : monetary policy and financial stability under one roof keynote speech by mr yves mersch, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the 6th policy roundtable of the european central bank : “ the future of global policy coordination ”, frankfurt am main, 6 september 2013. * * * ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to join you at the 6th policy roundtable of the ecb, which this year focuses on “ the future of global policy coordination ”. i will be speaking about the interaction of a particular set of policies, namely monetary, micro - prudential and macro - prudential policy. but rather than discussing the global dimension or replicating the discussion at jackson hole, i will restrict myself to the changes taking place under the roof of the ecb : the ecb taking over responsibility for elements of micro and macro - prudential supervision in the euro area. having the financial stability function under the roof of the central bank is of course nothing new. it is almost exactly hundred years since that the federal reserve act was signed into law. according to the regulation, federal reserve banks were created “ to furnish an elastic currency, to afford means of rediscounting commercial paper ” – and notably – “ to establish a more effective supervision of banking ”. this combining of monetary and supervisory functions reflects the fact that, for monetary policy authorities, financial stability is obviously key. a stable financial system with sound and solvent banks supports the smooth transmission of monetary policy and ultimately contributes to macroeconomic stability. this is particularly relevant for the euro area, where banks play and crucial role in providing financing to the real economy, most notably to smes. conversely, financial imbalances can be a genuine threat to price stability, in addition to being extremely costly from a macroeconomic perspective. but in my remarks today i would like to focus on a specific aspect of these interactions – that is, between monetary and macro - prudential policy. the key point i would like to make is that this interaction should be stronger than in the micro - prudential area, where the impending regulation imposes a separation between monetary policy and supervision. the reason for this is simple. while micro - prudential policy focuses on the stability of individual institutions, both monetary and macro - prudential policy take a more systemic perspective and aim ultimately at system - wide stability. let me explain the interaction between these two policies in more detail. in many ways – objectives