mario draghi : opening of the cultural days of the european central bank – italy 2011 address by mr mario draghi, governor of the bank of italy and chairman of the financial stability board, at the opening of the cultural days of the european central bank – italy 2011, european central bank, frankfurt am main, 19 october 2011. * * * madam mayor, mr. president, ministers, my esteemed central bank colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, for me it is a privilege and an honour to inaugurate this event, together with lord mayor petra roth and president jean - claude trichet, in the magnificent setting of the alte oper, which traditionally hosts the culmination of the european central bank ’ s cultural days. the cultural days, dedicated this year to italy, are opening just days before the end of my term as governor of the bank of italy and the beginning of my new position at the head of the ecb. this means that i will have the pleasure of being here in frankfurt more often. this year ’ s edition of the cultural days is also distinguished by the fact that it coincides with the 150th anniversary of italian national unity. at home, countless initiatives have retraced and commemorated the events that marked our history as a nation. exalting italy ’ s social and cultural roots is essential, because a country ignorant of its past is a country without a future. i am thoroughly convinced that our common european identity must be founded first of all upon common knowledge of the history and the traditions of the countries that make up the union. the cultural days serve this purpose, stimulating reflections on our shared roots. they offer an opportunity to become familiar with the cultural heritage of the nations of europe, to appreciate their fruitful differences, to comprehend their similarities, to grasp the full sense of our common europe. culture is fundamental to making the european union a living reality. the diverse forms in which it is expressed, crossing borders, create channels for mutual understanding and forge a common feeling of belonging, over and above origin or language. we are now at the ninth edition of the days, and certainly one of the reasons for the growing success of the initiative is the enthusiastic participation of the frankfurt public, the primary audience. let me thank you straight off for your attention to this dialogue. this year, there is perhaps an additional reason to spark the city ’ s interest : frankfurt is the city of goethe, the “ universal ” man of the enlightenment whose italienische

##orini ( 2019 ), ‘ climate risk and prudential regulation '. network for greening the financial system ( 2020 ), climate change and monetary policy : initial takeaways. technical document. product - based exclusions of the united nations global compact. 27 we overweight those with the best esg profiles, based on an external provider ’ s ratings. 28 in 2019, after the esg strategy had been introduced, the carbon footprint of our equity portfolio dropped by 30 per cent compared with the previous year. we are committed to further improving the environmental footprint of our investments, by applying sustainability criteria to a larger section of our portfolio. the bank of italy discloses on a regular basis both its operational principles for esg investment, and the results in terms of its carbon footprint. we acknowledge that the current esg ratings are an imperfect measure of climate risk, and support the development of more consistent, comparable and forward - looking data and scores. 29 we also support research on sound climate - risk assessment methodologies ( such as scenario analysis, and stress testing for transition and physical risks ), participating in eurosystem - wide developments. president lagarde confirmed yesterday that the eurosystem, as part of its ongoing strategic review, is considering whether to consider climate change profiles in its operations. 30 we favour any progress towards enhanced international cooperation in climate matters among regulators, supervisors and standard - setters. the bank of italy is an active member of the network for greening the financial system. as this audience knows, the uk and italy share the responsibility of promoting international climate cooperation through the upcoming cop26. * * * the awareness is growing worldwide that, if the goal of keeping the warming of the planet within safe boundaries is to be achieved, urgent action is needed to accelerate the transition towards net - zero global emissions. every actor must play their part. markets have proved themselves ready to embrace green finance, given the right incentives. change cannot just be legislated into existence, but public policy has a key role, including providing a stable climate - friendly regulatory framework. financial authorities should promote the adoption of sound climate - risk assessment practices, and support the production of adequate data ; while staying within their mandates, they can significantly contribute to achieving the common goal. this is the agreement, approved in 2004, which establishes the principles that companies should follow in the areas of human rights, labour, environmental sustainability and measures to prevent corruption. companies in all sectors can adhere to this agreement,