, shareholders, customers, suppliers, and civil society represented by ngos. companies ( including banks ) must take on new responsibilities that go beyond a simple policy of “ paternalism ” vis - a - vis their suppliers, customers and employees, such as that practised up until recent times. i would now like to discuss three questions in particular. the first is whether csr is a stable concept or one that is still evolving? this concept broadly stems from that of sustainable development, which is defined as development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. its blueprint was set out at the 1992 un conference on environment and development in rio de janeiro ( the first earth summit ). it is based on the principle of development that is economically efficient, socially equitable and ecologically sustainable. csr, whose initial objective was accountability, still largely appears to be an evolving paradigm closely linked to the current transition towards a new economic model. in this respect, rio brought to the fore the need for an iso standard at the company level in order for companies themselves to take account of their impact and change their processes as part of a preventive approach. the un addressed this dimension and brings together, under its aegis, the initiatives of the major companies that adhere to a relatively general charter. the johannesburg world summit on sustainable development ( also known as rio plus 10 or the second earth summit ), largely focused on companies wishing to take centre stage in the protection of the planet and adopt a proactive role. the ethical dimension of csr lends strength to the questions of stakeholders and employees as to how their funds are used. the financial turmoil of recent months may provide new avenues for analysing or developing csr. my second question is : will the concept of csr, whose global spread has been promoted by globalisation, result in new forms of managerial responsibility? it is vital that, in companies, the csr approach feeds into risk management. banks, for instance, seek to better understand, beyond their direct impact ( environmental footprint ), their indirect role through the projects, investments or businesses they choose to fund, i. e. through the financing of a more sustainable economy. some experts have even introduced the concept of “ sustainable finance ”. this is the notion whereby the banking sector commits to ensuring transparency, long - term governance, wellinformed choices and sustainable markets. in 2003, the network of ngos, banktrack, defined a benchmark against which civil

ewald nowotny : a changing role for central banks opening remarks by prof dr ewald nowotny, governor of the central bank of the republic of austria, at the 41st economics conference of the central bank of the republic of austria, vienna, 10 june 2013. * * * ladies and gentlemen, i would like to welcome all of you to the 41st economics conference of the oesterreichische nationalbank here in vienna. my warmest regards to state secretary of finance andreas schieder, and our keynote speakers, benoit coeure, member of the ecb executive board, and harold james, professor at princeton university. i am delighted and honored to welcome very prestigious speakers among us, who will enrich this conference with their insightful ideas and novel research. “ a changing role for central banks? ” is the question addressed at this year ’ s conference. during the 19th century central banks were very closely interlinked with national governments. only in the late 20th century did we observe a shift in emphasis toward the institutional autonomy of central banks. one can safely say that the status, reputation and self - image of central banks have considerably improved over the years. today, central banks alongside parliaments, governments and judiciary are among the pillars of modern democratic nations. at our conference we will discuss what kind of a pillar of the democratic system a central bank is or should be. in my short introduction, i want to emphasize two interconnected issues that are relevant to this discussion : 1 ) the role of a central bank in the general context of economic policy, and 2 ) the concept of central bank independence. in the period after the great depression of the 1930s and in the first decades after world war ii, the mandate of central banks usually reflected the traumatic experiences both of high inflation and mass unemployment. this is e. g. reflected in the broader mandate of the u. s. fed and also applied to the mandate of austria ’ s central bank before austria joined emu. in the period following the oil price shocks and up to the “ great recession ” – the economic crisis we have been experiencing for five years now – the role of central banks seemed to be clear cut : central banks should focus on price stability, should operate mainly with one instrument – the policy rate – and should be independent in their actions. this was also the leading perspective when laying the foundation of the european central bank – the maastricht treaty in 1992. it reflected a strong position of economic theories