Suffice it to say that it was a game of two halves. And, far from a boring goalless draw, it turned out to be a rather exciting and dramatic game, full of incident, with a red card or two and a passionate and at times justifiably angry crowd. We shall have to wait for the historians of tomorrow to file the full match report. Instead, tonight I want to focus on the twin challenges of engineering a recovery and reforming the financial system. I want to look back on the huge amount that has been done, and look forward to the unfinished business on both fronts, much of it for the Bank of England. I shall also tell you a story about the Governor of the Bank of England, the Governor of the Bank of Canada and a certain Mr Osborne. But that comes later. Since 2008, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee has gone to extraordinary lengths to stabilise the economy and support growth and employment. In fact, we have pursued what I have called the “paradox of policy”: doing in the short run, by encouraging spending through an unprecedentedly loose monetary policy, the opposite of what we need to do in the long run, which is to raise national saving. But that has been necessary to prevent an even worse recession, and without similar action from other central banks the world might have experienced a major depression. Now there are clear signs that a recovery in the UK, albeit modest, is underway.
Norges Bank will be an active owner and support companies through the climate transition, encourage climate reporting, and further develop our analysis of the fund's exposure to climate risks and opportunities. At the heart of our efforts is driving portfolio companies to net zero emissions by 2050. An operationally robust organisation helps safeguard the fund's assets. Geopolitical risk may be a greater source of uncertainty in the management of the fund in the years to come. Organised cyber-criminals are becoming increasingly specialised, sophisticated and well-funded. It is difficult to identify geopolitical events before they occur or lead to financial losses for the fund. For a large, global fund, there is nowhere to hide. Risk in the Government Pension Fund Global is reduced by diversifying its investments across asset classes, countries, sectors and companies. This should continue. The Sverdrup Committee, which is centre stage in this year's white paper, found that the fund is, in principle, well equipped for an uncertain future, but that its ability to deal with various changes and crises could be improved. We share this view and strive continuously to strengthen our situational understanding, develop our work on scenarios and stress testing, and improve our contingency planning. The Ministry of Finance announced in its white paper that it will be reviewing the matter of investing in unlisted equities. Norges Bank looks positively on this review, and we will return with our advice and assessments towards the end of the year.