green swan 2021 global virtual conference – 2 june 2021 never too much and never too many : how to transform global discussion into global action against climate change speech by francois villeroy de galhau, governor of the banque de france ladies and gentlemen, this “ green swan 2021 global virtual conference ” co - sponsored by the banque de france, the bis, the imf and the ngfs should have taken place in paris, birthplace of the climate agreement and of the ngfs, but it is my pleasure to welcome you online. central banks ’ commitment to the climate cause may seem obvious today. but few issues have seen such a rapid and massive change. my generation changed its mind, i changed my mind. many of us now share the imperative of hans jonas : “ in your present choices, include the future wholeness of man among the objects of your willi ”. in amsterdam three years ago, for the inaugural conference of the ngfs, i referred to greening finance as our “ new frontier for the 21st century ”. today, the challenge could almost look inverted : we have gone from the risk of “ doing too little, too late ” to the criticism by some of “ too many doing too much ”. no : we are not doing too much ( i ), and we are never too many ( ii ). but before starting, i would like to draw two useful and cautious lessons from the above - mentioned criticisms. first, we, central bankers and supervisors, cannot do everything by ourselves ; we are not the only green game in town. nothing will replace an appropriate carbon price. second, we are acting in the very name of our mandate : our consideration for climate change is neither an abuse of our mission, nor a mere militant conviction, and we will act with the same technical credibility and professionalism as we do in our traditional domains. i. not “ too much ” : what it is our duty to do in a somewhat “ proliferating ” environment, let me suggest some clarification, with a two - dimensional quadrant. the vertical axis – the most obvious one – relates to our missions as supervisors and includes both climate - related risks for financial institutions and opportunities – linked to green finance. the horizontal axis relates to our missions as central bankers and includes responsible investment of our nonmonetary portfolio and monetary policy. for many central banks, implementing responsible investment strategies has numerous benefits : central banks can then practice what they preach as supervisors, protect their own balance

into our operations on corporates ( on both asset purchases and collateral policies ). ii. not “ too many ” : how to transform global discussion into global action in less than 4 years, the ngfs has grown from 8 to almost 100 members, but we will never be too many. this increasing number nevertheless raises the challenge of our efficient work together at the international level. we must definitely transform global discussion into global decision and – at the end of the day – global action. we have functioned with voluntary and expanding coalitions like ngfs, or tcfd for business. and while europe was key at the core of this coalition, from the very beginning, our colleagues from china, mexico and singapore, were around the table. now, with the new administration in the united states, “ mandatory ” bodies enter the stage. standard - setting bodies, international organisations and international fora have now put sustainable finance as their top priority. in this context, the ngfs is actively requested and involved in the new international climate roadmap of the g20 and the fsb. to achieve this goal, we have to build on the best assets of our network : its agility ; its technical competence as a “ knowledge hub ” ; and, if i may, the relentless efforts of its chair, my colleague frank elderson, and the commitment of the banque de france to its global secretariat. a team of 14 people from the banque de france is the backbone of the secretariat, strongly backed by our new climate change center chaired by nathalie aufauvre. given the extension of the ngfs and the deepening of its work, secondments from other ngfs members would be most welcome to contribute to the dynamism of the network, through one year stays, on site, in paris, or flexible options including remote work. and we intend to strengthen our efforts to communicate and disseminate the work of the ngfs among our membership and beyond. we have increased means, and still many avenues to explore. if i had to stress only two tasks where our whole global community needs the ngfs : ( i ) climaterelated economic scenarios. we released a first wave in july 2020, we will update them next week. i read some unfounded doubts on them : ngfs works with the best partner research institutes, publishes a range of plausible and differentiated futures – not intended to be central forecast –, and will regularly incorporate the development of scientific evidence. this provides, as