nor shamsiah mohd yunus : keynote address - jc3 flagship conference keynote address by ms nor shamsiah mohd yunus, governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the joint committee on climate change ( jc3 ) flagship conference, kuala lumpur, 23 june 2021. * * * it is my pleasure to speak at the jc3 ’ s flagship event today. this conference is an important platform for us to share knowledge, best practices and solutions in tackling the threat of climate change. since the last time we held this event in 2019, the world has been gripped by a health crisis of staggering proportions. it is unlike anything we have experienced in recent memory – with great economic and social costs. despite unprecedented and massive policy responses to the crisis, the crisis has led to some setbacks to past progress towards sustainable development goals. and the global community is still confronting the harsh consequences of under - investments in health, education, infrastructure and the environment, at the expense of more sustainable and inclusive growth. if anything, the pandemic has been a sobering wake up call to the importance of sustainable development and the urgent need to pay more attention to planetary health. even as governments and policymakers have been laser - focused in combatting the covid - 19 pandemic, climate - related events have continued to intensify. these events include displacement and disruptions due to storms, flooding and droughts. for example, between november 2020 and january 2021, a few states in malaysia experienced severe flooding. this led to the displacement of more than 25, 000 people, loss of lives and significant economic damage. last year, 53 weather disasters across the world racked up more than usd1 billion in economic losses 1. in fact, it is estimated that altogether, economic losses from natural disasters were more than a quarter of a trillion us dollars in 2020 2. these events are prompting a renewed determination around the world to achieve a new balance of economic, social and environmental progress. indeed, the pandemic presents a once - in - ageneration opportunity to place sustainable development firmly at the core of recovery plans. to date, governments of more than 120 countries have committed to “ net zero ” by mid - century or earlier. among the countries are some of malaysia ’ s major trading partners such as the eu, south korea, japan and china. similarly, more and more companies are also adopting net zero targets. it is noteworthy that in 2020

spillovers of the financial crisis on economic growth, on unemployment and on public finances, the citizens in our countries will not forgive us, if we fail to draw the right lessons from the crisis. in my view, there are three main lessons to be learnt : • first, the need to build a more resilient financial sector, • second, the need for fully coordinated measures to that end at the global level, and • third, the need for all systemic economies to embark on sound macroeconomic policies over the medium and long term. the epicentre of the crisis was located in the financial sector. therefore the global financial system has to be made more resilient. current efforts are under way, and the focus must now be on implementation. this concerns both financial regulation as well as oversight. in the eu, financial sector supervision is on the way to be strengthened in a two - pronged approach. a european system of financial supervisors will be established to permit better coordination among national authorities that oversee financial regulation. and a european systemic risk board will be responsible for macro - prudential supervision. this new body will provide early warnings and issue recommendations to help prevent any renewed build - up of excessive risk in the financial system as a whole. these measures are not the end of the road on regulatory and supervisory reform, but, once implemented, a significant step forward. although they are aimed at the financial sector, they will serve the economy as a whole, not least manufacturers. the manufacturing industry has a stake in a stable and resilient financial system. the crisis has revealed the very high level of interconnectedness of the global financial system. this constitutes a compelling case for very close international cooperation and solutions at the global level. there is an overwhelming need to implement global reforms in a coordinated fashion and along the same concepts, in order to preserve a global level playing field that would be solid and resilient. finally, the crisis has again stressed the need for all policy - makers to contribute to financial, macroeconomic and price stability over the medium and long term. in the area of monetary policy, a sound legal and institutional framework for central banks promotes medium - term and stability orientation. the primary mandate of the ecb is to maintain price stability. to fulfil this mandate, the ecb and national central banks are institutions whose independence is firmly enshrined in law. this framework has been crucial to anchoring inflation expectations. it has also facilitated our task of maintaining price