' speeches and traceability in the data. for example, ibm ’ s food trust uses blockchain to connect participants across the food ecosystem, such as growers, processors and retailers, with data collected along the supply chain. this allows them to ensure that food safety protocols and sustainable food practices are adopted at each stage of the food chain. it also allows them to trace any food fraud incidents or food safety breaches back to their source. with greater certainty over the provenance of the data, financial institutions and corporates are better able to mitigate the risks of greenwashing. third, data for monitoring commitments. technology solutions can help financial institutions and project owners in monitoring and meeting their commitments to esg targets. fintechs are providing financial institutions with good data and analytics to assess and benchmark esg performance against peer companies. intensel, a winner of the mas global fintech hackcelerator last year, uses artificial intelligence to analyse climate data and satellite imagery and assess the physical risks faced by assets to floods, typhoons, storm surges, and extreme heat. fourth, data for reporting. fintechs are offering tools to automate the reporting process, while being nimble enough to adapt to various standards, such as the sustainable accounting standards board ( sasb ) and the global reporting initiative ( gri ). matter analytics, another winning solution at last year ’ s mas fintech hackcelerator, offers reporting solutions that help asset managers, asset owners and banks automatically generate customised and comprehensive impact reports for their clients. the technologies are promising, but that is not to say there are no challenges in this space. first, the esg landscape continues to evolve. taxonomies are still being defined and harmonised. these are important efforts that will take some time. disclosures and reporting requirements are also being formulated by governments and regulators. but financial institutions cannot adopt a wait - and - see approach. they should not look at esg only from the lens of regulatory requirements. climate risk is a real threat : financial institutions should have the conviction to want to understand the environmental risks in their portfolios and to mitigate these risks. it is imperative that financial institutions step up efforts to collect the data that are necessary to mitigate their physical and transition risks as soon as possible. second, financial institutions need greater clarity on the esg data they need. the network for greening the financial system ( ngfs ) has recently published a progress report on

for emerging risks. in keeping to our mandates, we concede that seeing all these risks clearly is hard, so we need to remain focused. we also need to be nimble in responding to unfamiliar risks and be prepared to use our monetary policy tools in new ways to prepare for unprecedented challenges that may present themselves. when conditions are uncertain, as they often are, we must move deliberately but also be ready to act quickly and decisively when the situation demands it, as we did in subduing inflation. effective monetary policy depends on clearly communicating our intentions so that the public will act on those intentions. that also requires credibility, and this is most effectively maintained when monetary policy decisions are made according to our mandates and in the longer - term interest of a healthy economy and stable financial system. guided by these basic principles, i believe that central bankers are up to the considerable challenges of today, and those we will face in the years ahead.