of this year, the acpr published a study revealing that an estimated 10 – 20 % of all securities held by french insurers are exposed to risk in relation to the transition to a low - carbon economy. the banque de france and the acpr have set up and are actively coordinating the network of central banks and supervisors for greening the financial system ( ngfs ). launched in paris last december, the ngfs started out with eight trailblazing supervisors but has since grown to include 19 members and five observers, including the sustainable insurance forum ( sif ). we are working hard on two subjects where insurers are in the vanguard : disclosure of current climate risks and the projection of dynamic stress tests based on future risks. a report detailing the network ’ s first year of work and making recommendations will be presented at a conference in paris on 17 april next year. * * i have called green finance “ the new frontier for the 21st century ”. today, you are talking about “ pushing back the limits of insurability ”. these images testify to your pioneering role and evoke your spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation. the risks facing the world in 2018 are unquestionably growing, and we need these qualities more than ever before. thank you for your attention. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches

totally open to foreign capital flows. in that regard, i would like to stress that current holdings of french and german securities by non - residents, including cross - holdings, amount to 1, 200 billion dollars. this highlights the importance of keeping a high level of confidence in the euro. thirdly, in spite of the fact that the escb will inherit credibility from the participating national central banks, the ecb will have no track record of its own in targeting money or inflation. it will thus have to build up its reputation and pay due attention to those indicators that reflect most directly the level of confidence placed by investors in the euro. of course, as underlined above, the external value of the euro will not have the status of an intermediate objective and the ecb ’ s strategy will not be based on exchange rate targeting. 6 however, any depreciating trend of the euro would feed domestic inflation through a rise in import prices and, by undermining investors ’ confidence, would contribute to the building of risk premia into the euro yield curve. this would have negative consequences for investment, competitiveness, growth and employment in the euro area. so there cannot be any “ benign neglect ” with respect to the exchange rate. a stable and strong currency contributes to lowering long - term interest rates, which play a crucial role in the financing of the economies in continental europe. all these reasons point to the need for a strong and stable euro, a currency that will be as credible as the franc, the guilder or the deutsche mark. the euro must be, and will be, rock solid. therefore the exchange rate of the euro, even if not targeted as such, will undoubtedly play an important role as an indicator in the conduct of the single monetary policy. 5 see, for instance, “ money demand in eu countries : a survey ”, by f. x. browne, g. fagan and j. henry, emi staff paper n° 7, march 1997. 6 this is different from the current stance in france, where the stability of the exchange rate vis - a - vis the most credible currencies within the erm is one of the two intermediate targets of monetary policy. 1. 4. the starting level of key interest rates in the euro area let me say a few words on another strategic question : what will be the starting level of key interest rates in the euro area thirteen months from now? futures contracts on short - term interest rates reflect the market ’