The NGFS (Network for Greening the Financial System) calls out the financial sector to take action !
The Network for Greening the Financial System collectively acknowledges that climate-related risks are a source of financial risk. Some members have extended this analysis to broader environmental risks finding that these are a source of financial risk as well. The members of the NGFS therefore call for collective action and have issued recommendations which have today been published in its first comprehensive report.Taken together, these recommendations reflect the best practices identified by NGFS members to facilitate the role of the financial sector in achieving the objectives of the Paris agreement.
Frank Elderson, chairman of the NGFS: “The financial risks we face through climate change are analytically difficult, unprecedented and yet very urgent. By issuing these recommendations, the NGFS members demonstrate collective leadership which will result in action to foster a greener financial system across countries and continents. As long as the temperatures and sea levels continue to rise and with them the climate-related financial risks, central banks, supervisors and financial institutions will continue to raise the bar to address these risks and to green the financial system.”
The four recommendations for central banks and supervisors are:
1. Integrating climate-related risks into financial stability monitoring and micro-supervision. This includes assessing climate-related financial risks in the financial system and integrating them into prudential supervision.
2. Integrating sustainability factors into own-portfolio management. Acknowledging the different institutional arrangements in each jurisdiction, the NGFS encourages central banks to lead by example in their own operations.
3. Bridging data gaps. The NGFS recommends that public authorities share data that is relevant to Climate Risk Assessment (CRA) and, whenever possible, make this publicly available in a data repository. In that respect, the NGFS sees merit in setting up a joint working group with interested parties to bridge existing data gaps.
4. Building awareness and intellectual capacity and encouraging technical assistance and knowledge sharing. The NGFS encourages central banks, supervisors and financial institutions to build in-house capacity and to collaborate to improve their understanding of how climate-related factors translate into financial risks and opportunities.
The NGFS also issues two recommendations for policymakers to facilitate the work of central banks and supervisors:
5. Achieving robust and internationally consistent climate and environment-related disclosure. The NGFS emphasises the importance of a robust and internationally consistent climate and environmental disclosure framework. NGFS members collectively pledge their support for the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
6. Supporting the development of a taxonomy of economic activities. The NGFS encourages policymakers to bring together the relevant stakeholders and experts to develop a taxonomy that enhances the transparency around which economic activities (i) contribute to the transition to a green and low-carbon economy and (ii) are more exposed to climate and environment-related risks (both physical and transitional risks).