of these transformative episodes. the common denominator was the coming together of different cultures, disciplines, religions and experiences in one place at one time. in short, these great historical leaps forward had diversity at their heart. historians even have a name for this – the “ medici effect ”. from the past to the present. what explains why some cities today are thriving, fast - growing creative hubs : from san francisco to seattle to sydney, from london to dublin to edinburgh. on this the economic geographers are also crystal clear. the common denominator is diversity - ethnic, cultural, sexual, educational. and if we turn finally from countries and cities to organisations and ask ourselves what hallmarks the most creative, fast - growing, productive and successful companies, what do you think academics find to be the common denominator? you don ’ t need an economist to tell you the answer to that ; it too is diversity. here ’ s a quiz question for you. at what age were you at your creative peak? 40, 30, 20 perhaps? in fact, the psychologists tell us it is around five years old. next time someone tells you to grow up, just remind them of that. the reason is because a child engages in so - called “ divergent ” thinking – that is to say, thinking untethered by convention and education. it is too late for anyone in this room to recreate their childhood brain, i ’ m afraid. but we could all do the next best thing, which is to create “ divergent thinking ” within and across our organisations. that means building teams rich and diverse in their backgrounds, personalities and thought processes – if you like, creating your very own mini - medici effect. this is very much the ethos in some of the world ’ s most innovative companies. the benefits of diversity do not end with innovation and creativity. diversity has also been shown to make organisations more resilient to stresses and strains, including the frailties of human decision - making. human decisions are riddled with biases like hubris and groupthink. these impair judgement and make for haldane ( 2016 ), ‘ the sneetches ’ sets this out in greater detail. all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / publications / pages / speeches / default. aspx sub - optimal decision - making. and we do not need to look far for examples. hubris was

around the strategy adopted. another factor that may warrant disclosure is the company ’ s ability — and flexibility — to adjust its strategy in response to emerging climate conditions, including alternative ways to use resources and the robustness and redundancy of business processes. tcfd status report ( 2019 ) pg. 64 tcfd status report ( 2019 ) pg. 63 tcfd status report ( 2019 ) pg. 62 this includes several industry associations and non - governmental organizations that have brought companies together to work through sector - specific approaches to climate change issues. for example, the world business council for sustainable development ( wbcsd ) has convened or announced “ preparer forums ” for various sectors and industries : oil and gas ; electric utilities ; chemicals ; all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / news / speeches looking ahead, the tcfd is currently considering how to : provide additional guidance on how to conduct scenario analysis ; publish business - relevant scenario templates to lower implementation costs ; improve understanding and improve comparability ; and start a work stream on how to roll out these approaches to portfolio measurement to more asset owners. the bank of england is doing our part by assessing the strategic resilience of the world ’ s leading financial centre. the bank will be the first regulator to stress test its financial system against different climate pathways, including the catastrophic business as usual scenario and the ideal — but still challenging — transition to net zero by 2050 consistent with the uk ’ s legislated objective. 17 in response, banks will need to establish how their borrowers are managing current and future climaterelated risks and opportunities. those assessments will reveal : which firms have strategies for the transition to a net zero economy ; which are gambling on new technologies or government inaction ; and which haven ’ t yet thought through the risks and opportunities. the test will help develop and mainstream cutting - edge risk management techniques, and it will make the heart of the global financial system more responsive to changes in the climate and to government climate policies. as with climate disclosure, such strategic assessments will need to go global if the world is going to stabilise temperatures below two degrees. that is one reason why the bank is developing its stress testing approach in consultation with industry, the credit rating agencies and the network for greening the financial system ( ngfs ) – a group of 42 central banks and supervisors ( including the jfsa ) that represent half of global emissions. fourth and finally