seriously taken into account. as a banker – and to be honest : as a person – i am risk - averse. but uncertainties must not hold us back. nature – life! – is an uncertainty by definition. we have to live with that … i know, this is not the first time high - level policy makers have come together to discuss biodiversity loss. in fact, international biodiversity targets have been set before. unfortunately, all signs show that these ambitions and goals have not been met. so let ’ s talk about our ambitions and goals and targets. let ’ s step over our urge to avoid risks to avert the risk of further biodiversity loss, of further irreparable damage to our planet. let ’ s put our heads, our minds, our ideas together today to help each other take that very important third step. let ’ s talk about sustainable finance and how we can make a change. a real change. because all beings – animal, mineral and vegetal – have a role, a place, an impact on our planet and our lives. or, in ‘ our ’ language : diversification is critical. for asset managers, but also for nature. and let ’ s be honest, we all know that the extinction of one species would not really disturb our planet ’ s ecosystem ; one species would not really be missed. and that is homo sapiens. i seriously doubt that other species would take the trouble to stuff the last human being and put it in a museum … so instead of being a net negative for this planet, let ’ s earn our keep! i know we can do it! just look at the programme. look at the participants. a rare and impressive collection of esteemed colleagues and brilliant minds, like ecb board member frank elderson, the executive secretary of the un for the convention of biological diversity elizabeth maruma mrema, banque de france governor francois villeroy and many other knowledgeable representatives of important organisations like the european commission, ngo ’ s, standard - setters, universities, the ngfs, banks and asset managers. together we can take the next step!

longterm lending. together, these measures will help to prevent excessive maturity transformation. given the importance of these liquidity requirements, it is worrying that the eu has not yet shown a clear commitment to implement them in full, without any reservations. next to capital and liquidity requirements, there is a variety of other measures aimed at reducing excessive risk taking. these are a third element of the current reforms. for instance, in the us, the volcker rule may impose direct restrictions on trading by banks for their own account. for banks based in europe, excessive risk taking will be discouraged by remuneration rules. these rules require that traders with a significant risk - taking role will receive part of their bonus in the form of shares with a delay of several years. thus, if highrisk trading results in large losses, then traders will share in these losses. the fourth key element of the current reforms consists of resolution measures. the crisis has shown that with the current regulatory tools large banks cannot be allowed to fail, because the costs for society would be too large. however, a bank failure can never be fully prevented – not even with the new rules for capital and liquidity and the other measures. it is therefore essential that any bank failure can be resolved at minimal cost and, if possible, without taxpayer support. resolution measures include the preparation of recovery and resolution plans, or living wills. these plans provide detailed guidance for emergency measures and, if these were to fail, an orderly restructuring or bankruptcy. in addition, in some countries there is a discussion about precautionary measures such as ring - fencing of retail activities. regardless of the precise regulatory approach, to make the failure of a large international bank – however unlikely it may be – a manageable event, some banks may need to change their structure. unfortunately, for the near future, resolution frameworks will remain focussed on the national level, because an international resolution regime is not politically feasible. as a consequence, resolution can be inhibited by the complex structure of large banks, many of which consist of thousands of legal entities all over the world that are interconnected through a variety of financial arrangements. to be able to quickly restructure a bank in times of crisis, these interdependencies must be made transparent and reduced. consequences for the financial system the current reforms will undoubtedly increase the resilience of financial institutions and enhance the stability of the system as a whole. however, there will also be broader consequences for the