beyond national borders, as greenhouse gas emissions are, by nature, geographically pervasive. the past six years have been the warmest on record for our planet. the number of disasters caused by natural hazards is rising, resulting in hundreds of billions of dollars of damages in 2020 alone. human - induced global warming has resulted in these events becoming increasingly severe and frequent. addressing climate change is therefore as urgent as ever. in this context, various sectors of the global economy are starting to become more aware of the roles they can play. the financial system is beginning to support the transition towards a “ greener ” economy. investment funds are gradually reorienting their portfolios towards more sustainable companies, which have also proved to be more profitable and resilient. we are seeing some savers change their preferences, opting for instruments such as green bonds or social bonds. central banks are also playing an increasing role, not only through their financial portfolios, but also through their actions as regulators and supervisors. governments and legislators are working towards adapting frameworks and practices to address the multifaceted risks posed by climate change and supporting a shift to more sustainable sources of energies. however, while there is considerable consensus on the need for climate action, much more can 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches and needs to be done. filling data gaps and improving firms ’ disclosure is crucial in order to correctly assess climate - related financial risks and to facilitate their integration into investment strategies. reliable scenario analysis must be produced and climate stress testing of the resilience of financial intermediaries should be regularly enforced. central banks can participate in the establishment of a common framework to measure climate - related risks and to integrate them into their risk management practices. national governments should then play the decisive role with a more appropriate calibration of incentives for sustainable investment, taxation and regulation of carbon emission and the removal of fossil fuel subsidies. a significant contribution to the solution of these challenges could also come from technological innovation. technological advancements have always played a crucial role in the selection of more efficient ways of delivering services and products ; they can certainly provide great support to the creation and sustainability of new low - carbon business models. to leverage on the potential synergies between digitalisation, finance and the transition to net zero emissions, the bank of italy, also through its new innovation centre located in milano, and the bank for international settlements innovation hub have organised, within the framework of the italian presidency of the g20, an international contest,

update their funding plans very frequently, based on the changing market conditions, and to monitor their interest rate risk exposure, while keeping a balanced maturity structure of assets and liabilities. open - end investment funds also show sound conditions overall and have weathered the rise in yields on financial assets smoothly. in the first six months of the year, net funding was slightly positive ; the main indicators of vulnerability to liquidity risk remained low, as did those relating to leverage. specifically, the systemic importance of alternative investment funds, whose recourse to debt is considerably greater than that of traditional funds, is limited although they have doubled their assets under management over the last decade. in the longer term, savings decisions over the coming years will need to factor in the major structural changes under way. as i have pointed out on many occasions, the digitalization of the economy and finance brings opportunities and risks for both intermediaries and savers. on the one hand, new technologies could reduce the costs of financial intermediation, simplify access to financial services and expand the potential customer base. on the other hand, they increase vulnerability to cyber - attacks, with the consequent risk of sensitive data exposure ; they make malfunctions more likely, which may lead to disruptions in the provision of services ; and they may result in the improper and discriminatory use of information provided by customers to financial intermediaries. the bank of italy ’ s action on this front is twofold. efforts to spur financial intermediaries to use new technologies are accompanied by risk management measures. in particular, we are stepping up our action to encourage financial intermediaries to improve their protection against cyber - attacks, to mitigate the risks arising from the outsourcing of some functions to a limited number of operators, and to carefully assess any unwanted consequences of the uptake of artificial intelligence. finally, informed savings choices may play a key role in achieving the climate transition objectives by helping to reduce carbon emissions. some signs pointing in this direction come from the growth in open - end mutual funds investing in instruments aimed at financing socially and environmentally sustainable business activities, whose assets under management in italy have reached almost €500 billion. however, there is a need for reliable data on the carbon footprint of the financed business activities and on the transition plans of non - financial corporations, which must be disclosed properly to the public to boost savers ’ confidence in the real usefulness of these instruments, thus increasing their contribution to a greener economy