climate change and geopolitical shifts : accelerating the sustainable transition speech at the eurofi financial forum 2022 prague | sabine mauderer 1 introduction 2 time to act – more reasons 3 financing the sustainable transition 4 enhancing market transparency 5 transition plans – from commitment to action 6 conclusion 1 introduction ladies and gentlemen, having just arrived from germany, i ’ m enjoying the pleasant, slightly cloudy weather in prague. it is very different from what we have experienced over the summer. this summer has been hot, unbearably hot – with temperatures reaching 40 degrees celsius or higher. scorching heat coupled with little to no rainfall has caused an unprecedented stress on water levels. two - thirds of europe is subject to a drought warning or alert, according to the european drought observatory. [ 1 ] this could be the worst drought in at least 500 years. the severe rainfall deficit is increasing the risk of fires. the wildfire in the bohemian switzerland national park was terrible, the smell of smoke even reached as far as prague. of course, such weather extremes are not entirely new, but their magnitude and frequency are frightening. it shows : the climate change is not a future problem. the climate crisis is at our doorstep. in addition to the human tragedy, the proliferation of extreme weather events has economic consequences. the european council estimates that the financial losses caused by extreme weather and climate - related events exceeded 487 billion euro in the eu ( european union ) 27 over the last 40 years. [ 2 ] on average, only around 23 % of the total losses were insured. and it is widely understood that climate - related extreme weather events will become more frequent. without mitigating action, they could result in even greater losses going forward. 2 time to act – more reasons ladies and gentlemen, there is simply no time left to hesitate or delay. we need to pull together and speed up the green and sustainable transition. even more so now that the russian war in ukraine is having global ripple effects. it has sent food, energy and commodity prices soaring across the world. in germany, the year - ahead price for electricity reached a high record at the end of august. prices briefly rose to 1, 000 euro per megawatt hour. before the war, they rarely rose above 100 euro. overall, the world bank expects global energy prices to increase by 50 percent on average in 2022. and, in a recent analysis, the world bank estimated that the energy shock could lower global output by almost

to play in mobilising the badly needed investments. however, again and again, we have seen that investors struggle to identify what qualifies as sustainable or green – and what does not. this ambiguity leaves the door open to greenwashing. investors need to be certain that their money is actually contributing to the transition. transparency is key for aligning investment with net zero objectives. 4 enhancing market transparency high - quality climate - related data are crucial for aligning capital flows with lowcarbon transition pathways. there is, however, room for improvement regarding the quality and quantity of data. acknowledging the need for better data, the global network for greening the financial system ( ngfs ( central banks and supervisors network for greening the financial system ) ) has recently launched a new data directory. it serves as a central catalogue of available climate - related data sources and supports stakeholders in finding the sources relevant to them. the data directory facilitates access to these data and, importantly, it is available to the wider public. currently, the data directory contains more than 700 links to relevant data sources. in this way, the ngfs ( central banks and supervisors network for greening the financial system ) is helping to identify existing data gaps. similarly, the ngfs ( central banks and supervisors network for greening the financial system ) ’ s widely recognised scenario analyses also contribute to greater transparency. they not only allow us to put a price tag on delayed policy action. they also highlight how transition and physical risks would leave a mark on the world economy. moreover, regulatory ambition to enhance transparency has increased in recent years. at the eu ( european union ) level, promising steps are being taken to enhance corporate sustainability reporting. eu ( european union ) rules require large firms and financial institutions to disclose the environmental and social impacts of their activities – namely the corporate sustainability reporting directive ( csrd ) and the sustainable finance disclosure regulation ( sfdr ). in addition, eu ( european union ) sustainability reporting standards are currently being developed. these should ensure consistency of reporting rules and are envisaged to become part of the csrd. the european financial reporting advisory group ( efrag ) has been tasked with drafting them. a first set of standards is expected to be adopted by october 2022. while those steps are laudable, it is important to bear in mind complexity and practicability. aligning disclosure standards globally must take priority. building on and contributing to international standardisation initiatives will be vital. in this regards, the