The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations has recently warned that global temperature will continue to increase until at least mid-century. Policymakers must urgently act to mitigate climate change and reduce its damaging effects. As part of the European Green Deal and in line with its global climate action under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the European Union (EU) has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050. One of the plan's cornerstones is the EU Strategy for financing the transition to a sustainable economy, an endeavour to redirect financial flows to support the transition.
National governments have the primary responsibility for achieving this objective: they can provide incentives to allocate capital to green investments, levy taxes on carbon emissions, regulate the amount of emissions and reach international agreements on shared targets for emissions. Regulators and supervisory authorities also have a role to play in ensuring that the banking sector is resilient and able to contribute to this evolving landscape. With global warming, physical risks will increasingly affect households and firms, with potential spillovers onto banks; a disorderly transition could negatively influence profitability and hamper financial stability. Banks should be able both to properly assess and manage climate-related risks and to redirect financial flows to support the transition toward a sustainable economy. Regulators, supervisory authorities and financial institutions have already taken several actions to achieve these aims.
However, the banking sector’s road to sustainability is still paved with significant challenges. The conference gathers contributions from policy institutions, industry players and academia to discuss on these issues.
The conference is co-organised with Banca d'Italia.
The conference can be attended only on premises.
We currently have no seats available. If you are interested in participating, write to [email protected] to be included in the waiting list.