management portfolios or even with monetary policy operations. we are currently in the process of assessing ways we can enlarge the scope of assets and take sustainable investment criteria into account in our own funds. we also contribute to a eurosystem working group on sustainability in the management of non - monetary portfolios. as regards monetary policy, we have to be careful not to jeopardize our primary mandate of price stability by pursuing other policy objectives. however, since market neutrality is an integral principle of our monetary policy operations, sustainable assets are alongside the market within the scope of the eurosystem ’ s asset purchase programme. so the more the market is invested in green finance, the more the ecb and the national central banks can reflect this development in the asset purchase programme. besides the investments, the bundesbank is closely looking at the risks resulting from climate change. we look at individual risks in our banking supervision and at systemic risks in our supervision of financial stability. we are making the case for individual financial institutions to disclose their climate - related financial risks and look at these risks in banking regulation and supervision. regarding financial stability, we evaluate whether the financial system as a whole is able to deal with asset devaluations resulting from physical climate risks or from transformation risks following political decisions to address climate change, for example on energy policies. furthermore, the bundesbank is intensifying the public dialogue to raise even more awareness among market participants and the general public. in the fourth quarter of 2019, we will publish a report which analyses major market trends in esg and green finance including an outlook on the way forward. and we are organising a financial markets conference on sustainability in october. 3 government activities all this comes at a time when german politics has been paying ever - closer attention to green finance, as climate protection commands broad support across virtually the entire political spectrum. in february, the state secretaries ’ committee for sustainable development declared that germany should become a leading hub for sustainable finance. chancellor merkel reaffirmed this aspiration just a few weeks ago. and just last week, the federal government ’ s new sustainable finance advisory committee met for the first time. the bundesbank is an advisory member of this committee. the committee is tasked with monitoring the european discussion on sustainable finance, improving knowledge, strengthening sustainable finance and, of course, advising the government. the government is also planning a strategy for communicating to consumers and the financial industry to promote green finance. and the government plans to further

is widely known that the engagement of banking services is through standard form contracts, which hamper or prevent negotiation between the two parties. 11 / 13 in addition, it has been opted to integrate financial education into the compulsory secondary education system, and specific subjects address these matters in greater detail in higher secondary education. notwithstanding these efforts, much clearly remains to be done. according to the results of the 2015 pisa report, which evaluated for the first time the financial capabilities of pupils at the end of their secondary education, spain stands significantly below the average for the 15 countries that participated in this evaluation, and it is ranked eighth out of the 10 oecd member countries that participated. sustainable finance one last change directly affecting us, and which merits highlighting, is the environmental challenge. the term “ environment ” should be viewed as broadly as possible here. previously, when talking about the environment, i was referring to the regulatory framework in which we move, to the prudential supervision we undertake, to the economic reality in which agents act and to society as a whole. now, “ environment ” must go beyond this, referring also to climate and to the consequences human actions have on it. it is here, moreover, that the aforementioned conflict between short - term actions and future benefit, in the very long term, are most manifest. the long term in this case is related to the life of future generations, which magnifies the importance of the matter. if we turn to look at society again, there is clearly growing awareness regarding the climate challenge. what are the public authorities doing in this respect? though not with sufficient speed, it is to be acknowledged that the ecological transition is gaining visibility and importance on the agenda of international financial organisations. there are a wealth of initiatives at present : the g20, the united nations, the financial stability board and the oecd are all involved. and notable within the eu, undoubtedly, is the european commission ’ s action plan on sustainable finance. in the case of spain, we should mention the draft climate change law. in the central banking and banking supervisory milieu, i would mention the work of the network for greening the financial sector ( ngfs ). we participate actively in this network, which has just published its second report. this includes best practices for boosting the role of the financial sector in complying with the paris agreement. banks themselves are increasingly joining ethical or responsible banking initiatives, observing international principles that not only look at environmental sustainability aspects, but