eye on housing market developments across the country. the slowing in the housing market has reduced the demand for credit by investors. there has also been some tightening in the supply of credit, partly in response to the royal commission, although the main story is one of reduced demand. the average variable interest rate paid by borrowers has declined further over the past six months, to be about 10 basis points lower than a year ago. you would not have expected to have seen this if supply constraints were the main reason for slower credit growth. a third issue that the board has focused on recently is growth of wages. as i have discussed previously, a lift in aggregate wages growth would be a welcome development from several perspectives. it would contribute to inflation being closer to the midpoint of the inflation target. stronger income growth would also help in the context of high levels of household debt. it would also be of benefit to government finances and more generally would strengthen our sense of shared prosperity. and, to the extent that stronger wages growth is backed by stronger productivity growth, it would boost our real incomes. we had another reading on the wage price index a couple of days ago, which showed a welcome uptick. over the past year, the wage price index increased by 2. 1 per cent and the broader measure, which captures bonuses, increased by 2. 5 per cent. these figures are both up from a year ago. this week, we also received employment data for the month of july. while the month - to - month employment data are volatile, the unemployment rate has fallen to 5. 3 per cent, which is the lowest it has been for some years. taken together, these data are consistent with our view that wages growth and inflation will pick up gradually over the next couple of years as the labour market continues to tighten. this tightening is evident in a number of indicators. the number of job vacancies, as a share of the labour force, is at a record high. firms are reporting that it is harder to find workers with the necessary skills, and survey - based measures of hiring intentions remain positive. in our liaison program we also hear reports of larger wage increases for certain occupations where workers with the necessary skills are in short supply. we expect that we will hear more such reports over time. even so, the pick - up in wages growth is still expected to be fairly gradual. we still have some 2 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches spare capacity in the labour market, including part - time

financing the transition. developed economies must lead by example and honour the usd 100 billion climate pledge made 14 years ago at cop15 in copenhagen. governments should also 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches mobilise private finance by implementing transition policies and creating a sound and stable framework to attract capital flows at the national and global level. second, governments can push for reform of the multilateral financial architecture. the g20 – this year under india's presidency – can play a key role in unlocking additional funding. the review of the capital adequacy frameworks of multilateral development banks can offer such opportunity. more generally, we must identify and remove public and private barriers to green finance worldwide wherever possible. third, central banks around the world can and must, within their mandates, support the greening of the financial system. the network for greening the financial system, which brings together 127 central banks and supervisors from all around the world, has played a crucial role in accelerating global action and will continue to do so. we at the ecb have also made it a priority to take account of climate change, because ( i ) it affects inflation ; ( ii ) it affects our balance sheet ; and ( iii ) it is a financial risk for the banks we supervise. we have adjusted our corporate bond holdings and changed our collateral and risk management to better reflect climate risks and at the same time provide incentives to support the green transition of the economy. as supervisors, we make sure that banks consider climate risks when making business and lending decisions. we also stress test the impact of climate change on the economy and financial stability. through our advice, analysis and actions, we aim to manage the financial risks stemming from climate change as well as provide evidence to support the need for the transition i just mentioned. these transformations have occurred within a remarkably short period of just a few years, reflecting the growing momentum of our global collective efforts to combat climate change. today's conference is evidence of our shared dedication to ramp up our actions as the window to meet our climate targets narrows. we can preserve the 1. 5 °c threshold through our united efforts. as sir david attenborough so eloquently put it, " if working apart we are a force powerful enough to destabilise our planet, surely working together we are powerful enough to save it ". 6 through our actions, let's prove him right. 1 ki - moon, ban ( 2015 ), " speech to cop21