when bank of england governor mark carney gave his famous speech on climate change almost two years ago, he mentioned ‘ the tragedy of the horizon ’. he was referring to how the catastrophic impact of climate change will be felt beyond our traditional horizon – imposing a cost on future generations that the current generation has no incentive to fix. the country where i ’ m from is a striking example of this phenomenon. one quarter of the netherlands lies below sea level. this area is home to nearly one third of the population, and the heart of our economy. although we are highly vulnerable to the effects of global warming, we still have one of the most carbon - intensive economies in europe. as well as being heavy oil and gas consumers, we are also a major producer and exporter of it. so perhaps i ’ m not in the best position to preach to the world about the risks of climate change. but as a representative of an organization whose mission is to safeguard financial stability and contributing to sustainable prosperity in the netherlands, climate change is a serious concern for me. fortunately, a number of recent events have presented us with a new horizon, the horizon for action on climate change. the most notable of these is the paris climate agreement, which entered into force last november. i will briefly mention the unfortunate recent development in that respect later on, but today i ’ d like to concentrate on what this action on climate change might look like. i ’ d also like to offer some observations on the importance of managing climate - related risks for you as financial institutions. and lastly i want to provide you with an insight into the business opportunities that are available to you. and as the right rules and incentives are introduced, these opportunities will only become ever more numerous and attractive. the theme of this conference is ‘ responding to sustainability regulation. ’ what i want to stress to you is that, rather than waiting for the regulators, you must act now : to manage climate - related risks and seize the opportunities that the transition to a low - carbon economy offers. in the words of axel weber, written on the invitation to this conference : ‘ finance is about seizing opportunities and managing risk. ’ that ’ s the spirit of the british financial sector. that is what you ’ re good at. so what could this action look like? after decades of scientific research on climate change, we have now entered the era of action. climate change is no longer exclusively the preserve of scientists. today it is also a challenge for policymakers and business

olaf sleijpen : sustainable investment - the perspective of the dutch central bank speech by mr olaf sleijpen, executive board member of monetary affairs and financial stability of the netherlands bank, at the jointly hosted erasmus / netspar symposium " what's cooking in sustainable investing? ", utrecht, 16 may 2024. * * * one month ago, on april 11th, it was european green energy day. on that day the european union had used up all its available green energy for the current year. for the rest of the year, the eu is still dependent on fossil energy. for the netherlands, green energy day fell even earlier, on the 8th of march, although the good news is that we are catching up. as the energy transition progresses, green energy day shifts in the right direction by a few days each year. but the shift is going too slow. in order to achieve the paris goal of being fully carbon neutral by 2050, we have to double our speed. the energy transition is as urgent as ever. shaping that transition, and accelerating it, is a responsibility we all share. each in our different roles. governments are in the driving seat. they have the democratic mandate and the position to lay down a long - term vision and strategy, to set goals, and to design and implement policies. they also have the economically most effective and efficient tools at their disposal. here i think of setting standards and imposing regulation, adequate pricing of externalities, and encouraging innovative, sustainable investment, for instance through subsidies. striking the balance between the medium to longer term gains of the energy transition and short - term transition costs may be the most complicated task for a government whose mandate is in most cases not longer than four or five years. at de nederlandsche bank, we may not be in the driving seat, but we are definitely part of the team. a part of the team in three different ways, in three different roles. as a supervisor and regulator, as a central bank and as a leader by example. as a supervisor and regulator we have a responsibility to make sure that financial institutions manage their climate - and nature - related risks. those risks have a bearing on the financial soundness of financial institutions, which is something we are watching over. and ignoring these risks is not compatible with sound risk management. as a central bank, our objective is to maintain price stability and to safeguard financial stability. climate change definitely has an impact on both and, hence, squarely falls