gediminas simkus : creating pathways towards the green economy welcome remarks mr gediminas simkus, chairman of the board of the bank of lithuania, at the economics conference " creating pathways towards the green economy ", vilnius, 21 october 2021. * * * good morning, honourable minister for the environment, dear colleagues, members of the academia, representatives from business and public sectors. good morning dear guests, distinguished speakers. a sincere thank you for joining us at the annual – already the fifth – lithuanian economics conference, organised by the bank of lithuania. i am very pleased to welcome you all. i am especially glad to finally see you in person after such a long time. let me also express a heartfelt virtual welcome to those who could not join us live today but are taking advantage of the hybrid conference format. if it weren ’ t for the pandemic, a hybrid conference format probably wouldn ’ t exist. as nobel laureate milton friedman once said, “ only a crisis – actual or perceived – produces real change ”. this period is short of neither crises nor challenges. at the same time, it opens new opportunities. for example, an opportunity to substantially transform the economy. to quote our honourable guest and the keynote speaker of this conference, professor ian goldin, ‘ covid - 19 has demonstrated the importance of the umbilical relationship between human and planetary health ’. the pandemic demonstrated that now is the time to combat climate change and its catastrophic consequences. we can win this fight by employing comprehensive greening measures. please allow me to quote our keynote speaker once again : ‘ while the threat from the pandemic is temporary, the threat from climate change is permanent ’. professor ian goldin, i am very much looking forward to your presentation. colleagues, i know that i will not surprise you in stating that climate change is one of the biggest challenges for the world. since 1850, the average global temperature has increased by almost 1°c. if we fail to take real, sufficient and, most importantly, consistent, and targeted actions, in 2030 our planet will be by as much as 1. 5°c hotter compared to the period before the industrial revolution. temperature extremes, increasingly frequent floods, draughts, and the rapidly rising sea levels are among the most prominent manifestations of the ongoing process of climate change. in the worst - case scenario, the sea levels could rise by two meters already by 2100. for lithuania it would mean the flooding of

/ 4 bis central bankers'speeches to conclude, macroprudential policy is – so to say – approaching its adolescence, and countries will continue to fine - tune their frameworks and instruments. however, experience with applying these tools is growing. i am confident that through knowledge - sharing and international cooperation, macroprudential policy will play an increasingly important role in safeguarding financial stability – in all parts of the world. 1 imf ( 2018 ), the imf ’ s annual macroprudential policy survey — objectives, design, and country responses. 2 milton friedman ’ s famous line ran : “ we are all keynesians now ". 3 net foreign exchange position is defined as the difference between assets and liabilities in a foreign currency. 4 all member states but one ( italy ) now have a dedicated macroprudential authority in place. in italy, the role of setting macroprudential measures ( available in the common eu regulation ) is currently carried out by the bank of italy. 5 the crr / crd iv rules provide for the common regulatory framework for macroprudential supervision. 4 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches