progress over the past decades. granular, high frequency data has become much more easily available ; new information is being collected, and new data sources have been tapped. this is a good starting point. however, as statistics providers, we also have to adapt to the new environment. providing relevant information supporting the climate transition requires new ways of gathering, compiling, and disseminating data. this calls for more agility so that we can make progress sufficiently fast. in the following, i will provide some historical examples of how structural change has paved the way for new data and information systems. i will then draw implications for sustainable finance data, including learning from experiences, incentivizing the private sector, regulating the market for information, and providing infrastructures for data sharing. structural change and measurement : historical examples addressing climate change would, ideally, require a global standard to measure and attribute greenhouse gas emissions. history can provide examples of how this can be achieved. the invention of double - entry bookkeeping, the invention of national accounts, and the measurement of time share similarities with today ’ s challenges. these examples provide three main lessons : • • • structural changes such as globalization and industrialization created the need for innovations in terms of measurement and data. solutions found in the past involved experimentation in the private sector and coordination through the public sector. governments have played an active role in incentivizing innovation and providing the necessary infrastructures. developing new measurement systems has taken time, and it involved continuous improvements. page 3 of 18 deutsche bundesbank, directorate general communications wilhelm - epstein - strasse 14, 60431 frankfurt am main, germany, tel. : + 49 ( 0 ) 69 9566 33511, fax : + 49 ( 0 ) 69 709097 9000 presse @ bundesbank. de, www. bundesbank. de reproduction permitted only if source is stated. 1. 1 the evolution of double - entry bookkeeping accounting for greenhouse gas emissions at the firm - level shares similarities with standard accounting objectives : • • corporate cost accounting links the costs of resources such as labour and capital to price setting and production decisions. climate accounting and taxonomies aim at measuring the use of carbon and – indirectly – the carbon contained in goods and services. double - entry bookkeeping is a comprehensive information system for commerce that looks at every transaction from two angles : credit ( the uses of funds ) and debit ( the sources of funds ). it developed in parallel

the european union has been developing a single market for more than half a century. the four fundamental freedoms - mobility of goods, services, people and capital - ensure that what had previously been a customs union became an integrated economic area. convergence is progressing. entry into emu was and is conditional on the fulfillment of “ convergence criteria ”. countries willing to join the monetary regime must display a “ high degree of sustainable convergence ”. that is measured in terms of price stability, exchange rates, capital - market rates and sound public finances. in a currency area, we have a “ one - size - fits - all ” monetary policy, and no exchange rates to cope with asymmetric economic shocks. such shocks may occur despite the advanced state of convergence in the euro area. the countries of a monetary union are therefore in need of flexible goods, capital and labor markets. the eu member states are working to improve the flexibility of those markets. insofar as price rigidities exist mobility, as ensured by the four basic freedoms, is called for. political union has, in the past, proved helpful in preserving the stability of a monetary union. the european union is moving slowly but steadily towards that long - term goal. its willingness to assume greater responsibility in the global context is encouraging in that respect. overall, european policy makers have created a monetary union that is designed to last. features which, in former currency unions, proved destabilizing have been avoided in the design of emu. but institutional features alone do not guarantee emu ’ s success. commitment to the union, and a true european spirit, are called for. in the ecb council, we show this european spirit. national interests are not relevant to the process of shaping monetary policy for the euro area — the euro area as a whole. v ladies and gentlemen, at its start, the eurosystem has seen a period of unprecedented price stability. in 1998 and 1999, consumer prices rose by only 1. 1 percent ; in the year 2000, the inflation rate, at 2. 3 percent, ran a little above the two - percent ceiling, after the sharp increase in oil prices during 1999 and 2000. this year, after peaking in may, at 3. 4 percent, the inflation rate has been decreasing. in october, prices were 2. 4 percent higher than one year before. in the current environment of a weak world economy, the ecb governing council is expecting a further moderation of price movements. at its most