the necessary adjustment measures at national, regional and local levels and aspires to leverage the capabilities of greece ’ s public authorities, economy and society at large, with the ambition to address the impact of climate change in the coming years. research so far confirms that there needs to be a robust strategy and an action framework in order to address current environmental challenges, climate change and sustainability as a whole. i believe that the work you are presenting these days in athens has already shed some new light on these challenges and i would like to congratulate the european association of environmental and resource economists and the organizers for a successful conference. 1 reports. weforum. org / global - risks - 2017 / the - matrix - of - top - 5 - risks - from - 2007 - to - 2017 / 2 ibid, the three risks are extreme weather events ( 1 ), major natural disasters ( 2 ) and failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation 3 ipcc, 2012 : managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation. a special report of working groups i and ii of the intergovernmental panel on climate change ( ipcc ) 4 for example, the air pollution in a chinese city had no direct impact on a european city. 5 tol, r. s. j. ( 2009 ), the economic effects of climate change, in journal of economic perspectives, vol. 23, no 2, spring 2009, pp. 29 – 51, www. ssc. wisc. edu / ~ walker / wp / wp - content / uploads / 2012 / 09 / tol2009. pdf 6 ipcc third assessment report : climate mitigation, www. ipcc. ch / ipccreports / tar / wg3 / index. php? idp = 383 change, working group iii : 7 ipcc ( 2007 ), climate change 2007 : working group i : the physical science basis, 7. 3. 2. 2 uptake of co2 by natural reservoirs and global carbon budget, www. ipcc. ch / publications _ and _ data / ar4 / wg1 / en / ch7s7 - 3 - 22. html 8 www. bankofengland. co. uk / publications / documents / speeches / 2016 / speech923. pdf 9 the paris agreement at unfccc. int / files / essential _ background / convention / application / pdf / english _ paris

##s a cost on future generations that the current one has no direct incentive to fix ” 8. in 2015 in paris, countries committed themselves to cutting down carbon emissions and limit the rise in average global temperature9. the paris agreement that came into force in november 2016 brings nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to developing countries. to date, 148 countries have ratified the agreement and although there are no legally binding targets, countries have agreed on a monitoring and reporting process that is binding and a 5 - year reassessment of the collective progress10. yet, research shows that more effort and commitment is required 11. there is a significant acceleration of climate action, however, current targets may not be enough to keep the temperature rise below the 2°c limit and the world needs timely revision of national contributions 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches within a global framework of deep decarbonisation of national energy systems. there are definitely significant risks as well as opportunities along the way : physical risks that arise from climate related events, and transition risks that arise from the decarbonisation process. in this process, companies might suffer costs, valuation losses and serious disruptions. but opportunities might also arise, related to the creation of new products of renewable energy and investment in energy saving and new infrastructure. hence, in the transition to a low carbon economy, disclosure and transparency are very important. these will allow markets to lead the transition12, price the cost of doing business, price the risk that relates with climate change, as well as assess the value of new business opportunities. working towards a solution to the problem of climate change, the work of environmental economists is of utmost importance. environmental economics has had a major contribution towards understanding contemporary environmental and resource problems. also, both theory and applied tools of environmental economics have been directing policies and informing decision - makers in addressing environmental challenges, such as the creation of markets for pollutants or the instruments for the conservation of ecosystem services. yet, there is still a lot to be done and the work of environmental economists will provide valuable guidance along the way. it is this kind of guidance that we are also endorsing at the bank of greece, where we have set up an interdisciplinary committee of scientists to help us assess the impact of climate change and inform policy - makers. since 2009, working alongside climatologists, physicists, biologists, engineers and social scientists, environmental and energy