while the impact on tourism and coastal systems will significantly affect household income and the economy as a whole. of particular importance are water reserves, on which both agriculture and water supply depend. the work so far undertaken by ccisc has highlighted the importance of a concrete adaptation policy as a necessary damage control measure. for this reason, under a memorandum of understanding signed with the ministry of environment and energy and the academy of athens, we have drafted the national climate change adaptation strategy ( nccas ) and we are currently elaborating on its implementation. this strategy sets out the general objectives, guiding principles and implementation tools for an effective and growth - oriented adaptation strategy, in line with european directives and international experience. moreover, it is the first step in a continuous and flexible process for planning and implementing the necessary adaptation measures at national, regional and local levels and aspires to leverage the capabilities of greece ’ s public authorities, economy and society at large, in an aim to address the impacts of climate change in coming years. more recently, last june, the bank of greece released a book entitled “ the economics of climate change ”, which provides a comprehensive, state - of - the - art review of the economics of climate change and a literature review in the emerging area of environmental macroeconomics and focuses on the design of economic policy aimed at controlling the climate externality. with this publication, the bank of greece aims, among other things, to lay the foundations for addressing the role of monetary policy under conditions of global warming and exploring the link between 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches monetary policy and climate change, a topic that remains high on our research agenda. it acknowledges, of course, that monetary policy is not the primary tool for tackling climate change but rather plays a supplementary role alongside fiscal, environmental and structural policies. scientific research and current developments confirm the need for a dynamic strategy and an action plan to address sustainability challenges. i am sure that the presentations during this first day of the conference, and even more so tomorrow, will shed light on crucial aspects of the path towards achieving the sustainable development goals by 2030 and beyond. i would like to congratulate the organisers for taking this initiative and wish them the best of success in this conference. 1 see www. overshootday. org / newsroom / press - release - july - 2018 - english 2 according to the united nations conference on trade and development ( unctad ), the achievement of sustainable development goals will

non - deliverable forward exchange rate, which tracked each other very closely until the end of 1998, when they began to diverge. the decoupling suggests that the market has drawn the obvious conclusion from the fact that, since the linked exchange rate was introduced in 1983, the renminbi has depreciated by more than 70 %, while, during the same period, the hong kong dollar has remained rock solid. and this was confirmed by the calmness with which the market took the raising of the possibility of greater flexibility for the renminbi exchange rate by premier zhu. our own study further suggests that, contrary to popular intuition, a devaluation of the renminbi might actually provide a stimulus to the hong kong economy : this is because the positive impact on demand arising from the complementarities between the two economies would outweigh the negative impact of any loss of competitiveness in those relatively few activities where the two economies remain in competition with each other. such complementarities are in part reflected in hong kong ’ s role as a major entrepot for mainland exports. for any renminbi devaluation, while hong kong ’ s own direct trade balance with the mainland will deteriorate, our re - exports of mainland origin should rise. indeed, with the surge in mainland re - exports activities since the early 1980s, the margins earned on such re - exports are now larger than all other components of hong kong ’ s trade with the mainland combined. conclusion i have suggested in this address that china ’ s accession to the wto will bring benefits to hong kong on a number of fronts. wto entry will see a vast and rapid increase in china ’ s external trade. not all of this additional trade will go through hong kong, but nor will it all avoid hong kong. more important still, the stimulus to liberalisation, globalisation and better corporate governance will expand and deepen hong kong ’ s well - established role as a fund of professional expertise, a centre of international experience and a source and channel of investment. hong kong ’ s banking sector, with its strong reputation and long involvement in mainland business, stands to benefit greatly from the liberalisation in this area, providing that it can position itself to make the best out of the opportunities. in the monetary sphere, the various predictions about the future development of the renminbi in the light of wto membership - which include the possibility of greater exchange rate flexibility - would most likely have positive implications