and we are already one step closer to moving to the ostend, the ecb ’ s new neighbourhood. special thanks go to the construction companies, especially to all members of zublin and spannverbund and their subcontractors. their continuous work and strong commitment to delivering the required quality on time has made it possible for us to have this celebration here today and to be able to gaze up at this impressive structure. it is a great achievement that we can already use all three of the main elements of the building complex : • entering here via the entrance building, the future main entrance of the ecb, and • celebrating the topping out in the grossmarkthalle, actually in the future cafeteria, • while enjoying the view of the double office tower. bis central bankers ’ speeches the vision of the architect mr wolf prix and his team was to create a new and unique landmark, combining “ old and new ” and his vision has now come to fruition for the ecb, a truly european institution. let us look back on some of the milestones that have been accomplished so far. the double office tower has almost reached its final height of 185 metres. the last office floor was laid a few weeks ago, while the various platforms and steel structures within the atrium are currently being completed. the restoration of the grossmarkthalle is another remarkable element of the ongoing construction works. the former splendour of the facades and the concrete roof shell structure is slowly being restored, evoking again the vision of its architect, martin elsaesser. i would like to thank the company torkret, which built the original market hall in the 1920s, for their excellent work and for being able to find suitable solutions – together with the architects and planners – for any surprise the old building fabric threw up. the next steps will also be important. since the beginning of this year a myriad of technical equipment has been on site and hundreds of workers are busy installing the necessary technical infrastructure to ensure everything runs smoothly from an operational perspective once we move to our new premises. fit - out works and the installation of walls and floors are also continuing in parallel, all taking place behind the newly completed facades of the high - rise and the restored grossmarkthalle. most visibly, the antenna and the technical areas will be installed at the top of the double office tower by the end of this year. we are monitoring the construction progress, costs and price developments very closely, adjusting and adapting

luis de guindos : speaking notes on climate - related risks speaking notes by mr luis de guindos, vice - president of the european central bank, at roundtable event on climate - related risks at bloomberg, washington dc, 17 october 2019. * * * general remarks the ecb agrees that we need a deeper understanding of climate - related risks and a common language for discussing economic activities that can be considered environmentally sustainable. in particular, we welcome the development of a taxonomy of sustainable activities and support harmonised, firm - level reporting of carbon emissions related to corporate activities. at the international level, we are engaged in discussions with other supervisors and central banking authorities as a member of the network for greening the financial system. and in europe, we are actively involved in the work on an eu taxonomy as a member of the commission technical expert group on sustainable finance. we also agree on the need for credit rating agencies to develop standards or guidelines on integrating environmental, social and governance ( esg ) information into their ratings or other scores. this would enable financial and non - financial firms ’ exposures to climate - related risks to be better priced and monitored. in this regard, we welcome a recent initiative from the european securities and markets authority to draw up guidelines for credit rating agencies to disclose whether and how esg factors are reflected in their ratings. we need a clear and common understanding of how climate - related risks are defined and measured, and we should redouble our efforts to empirically measure these risks and close knowledge gaps. improved disclosure is an essential first step. disclosures by firms, and financial institutions in particular, tend to be incomplete and inconsistent. market data providers have developed scores that seek to consolidate companies ’ quantitative and qualitative environmental information. but they have a significant amount of discretion as to how they construct these metrics. 1 / 1 bis central bankers'speeches