In addition, I should point out that, like the ECB, we resolutely support the initiative recently launched by the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA). As the regulator of rating agencies, ESMA is seeking to establish guidelines so that these entities make public the way in which they incorporate sustainability elements into their valuations. To conclude, allow me to reiterate the importance and scale of the challenge we face. It may sound clichéd; but it is nonetheless true that we are not only talking about our well-being, but the well-being of future generations who may be left with little leeway if we are not sufficiently ambitious. The challenge extends to all agents and sectors, and proof of this is the broad and varied representation here in this room today. The financial sector undoubtedly has a notable responsibility in this challenge. In our capacity as financial authorities and under our mandate, we can and must do everything within our power to properly value, manage and mitigate the risks associated with climate change. The challenge is paramount and the need for coordination – with other national and international authorities – enormous. But I believe that, if we have been capable of structuring an appropriate regulatory response to the international financial crisis, we will also be capable of rising to the challenge here. I think that the measures rolled out from Europe will ultimately be an international reference and standard.
Along with reflecting the risks, the agreement explicitly acknowledges how important the financial system should be for efficiently channelling the resources needed to transform our economy towards a sustainable model. These two factors, namely the risks and the opportunities and incentives associated with the change in economic model to combat climate change, have grown in significance on international financial agencies’ agendas. Allow me to mention, non-exhaustively, some of these initiatives: - the work on sustainable finance during the last three mandates of the G20, - the establishment of responsible investment principles by the United Nations, - the creation of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, - the establishment of the OECD green finance and investment centre, - the Sustainable Banking Network established by the World Bank, - within the EU, the European Commission’s action plan on sustainable finance - in the central banking and banking supervision environment, the work by the Network for Greening the Financial Sector (NGFS), of which the Banco de España is a member. In sum, the Paris agreement message to involve the financial sector has hit home and is prompting numerous courses of action. 3/5  You will be discussing many of these initiatives at length in the ensuing roundtable. But in the rest of my speech I wish to briefly set out the role the Banco de España, as a central bank and as a supervisor, can perform regarding this collective challenge.