thus, helped with the significant but necessary adjustment. with the decline in the nominal exchange rate, our non - commodity sectors saw their competitive positions improve. they were therefore able to absorb some of the resources that were being quickly shed by the commodity producers. our floating exchange rate allowed us to achieve a decline in real wages without a decline in nominal wages and to hold inflation near our target. let me give you another example. in recent years, the demand for and the prices of canadian commodity exports have been rising sharply. this has helped to create an economic boom, and investment flows into canada have increased. our floating dollar has appreciated sharply and thus, has forced some necessary adjustments. as their competitive positions improved, our commodity producers have been able to absorb some of the resources that were being shed by the noncommodity sectors, which have seen their competitive positions deteriorate. as a result, we've seen a shift in relative wages without fueling inflation. thus, the flexible exchange rate has again helped the economy to absorb shocks and has allowed the bank of canada to keep inflation near the 2 per cent target. adjustment is never easy, but on balance, a flexible exchange rate regime has definitely helped canada to maintain production close to full capacity and to minimize the effects of the boom - bust cycles in various sectors. a floating exchange rate can bring a number of important benefits, but as i said, there are other important components of a sound policy framework. a well - functioning domestic financial system is crucial to achieving efficient domestic allocation of capital and to dealing with external shocks. that is why policy - makers around the world have been putting a lot of emphasis on improving domestic banking and financial systems. organizations such as the g - 7, the g - 10, and the financial stability forum have all examined ways to improve financial system stability. and for his hard work in this area, i'd like to congratulate tim geithner of the u. s. federal reserve, who is also your next speaker. with all of these efforts, we have seen some real improvements in financial system stability in recent years. since the 1990s, countries have also found that it's very important to develop domestic markets for debt, for their own protection, as well as for the good of the global economic system. and in this area, we have also seen some real signs of progress. a decade ago, with the peso crisis still fresh in people's minds, who would have believed that mexico

##ing climate were significant but manageable, while delayed action was dangerous and much more costly. importantly, the report concluded that there was still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, if we took strong action. source : world meteorological organization, 3 december 2019, january to october. https : / / public. wmo. int / en / media / press - release / 2019 - concludes - decade - of - exceptional - global - heat - and - high - impactweather intergovernmental panel on climate change ( 2018 ). european parliament, press release 29 - 11 - 2019. https : / / www. europarl. europa. eu / news / en / pressroom / 20191121ipr67110 / the - european - parliament - declares - climate - emergency http : / / www. lse. ac. uk / granthaminstitute / publication / the - economics - of - climate - change - the - stern - review / https : / / webarchive. nationalarchives. gov. uk / 20100407163608 / http : / / www. hmtreasury. gov. uk / d / summary _ of _ conclusions. pdf 2 / 5 of course, it is worth repeating that these conclusions were flagged already in 2006, more than thirteen years ago. unfortunately, it would seem that it hasn´t been till recently that this call for action has been taken seriously. in his keynote presentation lord stern will shed some light on whether we are still in time to avoid the worst impact. thank you very much for accompanying us today. still, we shouldn´t forget that the fight against climate change also has a human and social dimension. the transition to a low - carbon economy must also be “ fair ” or “ just ” for the economic sectors most affected. this is one of the objectives of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, which commits to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development worldwide by 2030, ensuring that no one is left behind. the agenda integrates in a balanced manner the three dimensions ( economic, social and environmental ) of sustainable development through seventeen sustainable development goals. ms. cristina gallach, high commissioner for the 2030 agenda, will moderate the panel that will follow lord stern´s presentation, and will share with us the progress that is being made in this respect. thank you very much, cristina, for being here today. i am sure we are all looking