and it is unprecedented. i am sure i have left you in no doubt as to its urgency. so the benefits of us working together to share experience and build practical guidance are monumental. we have now reached the point that we need to move. move from bold statements to boring but crucial details. from sweeping visionary speeches to the nuts and bolts of the technical eng ine rooms of central banking and prudential supervision. when we ’ re knee deep in the weeds with these details, we could easily be distracted from our ultimate destination. we can easily become preoccupied by the bushes we cut away, the path we ’ re finding, the progress we make. but we should never take our eyes off our ultimate destination. it ’ s not a question of being satisfied with taking a few steps forward. no. we need to actually get to where we want to go. getting to paris. on time. that ’ s where we wan t to be. this means a lot of work from you. the hard core technical part has started. the part where the economists and econometrists deliver. although you may be experts in the economy rather than ecology, your expertise is equally valuable in both fields. i assure you. yet climate change is not the only challenge we face. the world will need fresh water. a decline in biodiversity could limit the operations of businesses in a specific region. these risks too, could affect financial institutions. i am pleased to see that these other environmental risks are also appearing on our radar. fout! onbekende naam voor documenteigenschap. the next step we need to take, and soon, is to dedicate more resources to environmental risks and how they have impact on our work. a lot still needs to be done. i hope today will inspire you to be bold, think freely, stimulate each other, embrace competition and expand our horizons. because next year, when we gather again, i hope we will be making the same swift progress. i hope we will be able to show how we have put these six recommendations into practice. and i hope we will have explored new territories with new members. because with your help, the seeds that were planted here in paris will grow even further and flourish. because there is no limit to what countless hands, what humanity, can achieve. when working together, with a commonly held belief in a shared objective.

swiss supervisory authority and the european investment bank. today, the ngfs has thirty six members and six observers. our membership spans five continents. one planet. but before i discuss what we have achieved and what we want to go on to achieve … let ’ s ask ourselves a question : why is being here today so important? i : why it is important? emissions have increased since the pre - industrial era, driven largely by economic and population growth. this has led to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases, at higher levels in our atmosphere than at any time in the last 800, 000 years. temperatures are already at least 1°c above pre - industrial levels. in 2017, air pollution caused the deaths of almost 5 million people. in 2018, 62 million people felt the impact of extreme weather events. over 2 million people were displaced. the arctic is warming up almost three times as fast as the rest of the planet. and as the ice melts, it will cause the sea level to rise. this will undoubtedly have an effect on where and how we live. with rising temperatures comes a decline in biodiversity, water scarcity, and mass migration as land becomes uninhabitable. problems of poverty and inequality will become even worse. the domino effect of climate events will add to the already formidable challenge of rising temperatures. a transition to a low - carbon, green economy is not a niche. it ’ s not an optional extra for the privileged few. c limate change affects us all. it reaches beyond economies, borders, cultures and languages. when the world we live in is changing at such an alarming rate, who can afford to sit back? that ’ s why we need to come together and take action. to create a sustainable future. and that is exactly what we are doing with the ngfs. ii : how & why finance is involved since the publication of the ngfs progress report last october, it ’ s no longer a question of asking why we must get involved. climate - related risks are a source of financial risk. that is why it falls squarely within the mandates of central banks and supervisors to ensure the financial system can withstand these risks. our mandate doesn ’ t restrain us. on the contrary, it forces us take a lead in addressing climate change. next to managing risks, investment needs to be channeled in the right direction. to achieve the eu ’ s 2030 goals of the paris climate agreement, including a 40 % cut in greenhouse gas emissions,