the ECB and the 11 national central banks of the Member States which have adopted the euro) is meeting this challenge, in particular since EU enlargement also implies the eventual adoption of the euro by the accession countries. Before doing so, however, I should like to make clear that I am not able to repeat Governor Zolotas’ remarkable performances at the World Bank some years ago, when he made speeches in English using only Greek words. Enlargement of the European Union Let me begin generally by saying that the forces and motivations driving the enlargement process are the very same as those that have driven the process of European integration over the past 50 years. Moreover, these forces have shown themselves to be extremely powerful, as can be seen from the remarkable events that have taken place since the Schuman declaration nearly half a century ago. Some 50 years ago, it was already clear to Europe’s political leaders that they needed to overcome the nationalism which had ultimately led to two world wars and devastated much of Europe in the first half of this century. In order to ensure a future of peace and stability they needed instead to pursue policies which would bring European nations closer together and in so doing eliminate the risk of future conflicts. This, as I believe we are all aware, was one of the original “political” motives behind European integration.
We need a holistic approach for Asia's energy transition that meets three objectives: reduce emissions significantly; meet growing energy demands; and limit any adverse impact on jobs and communities. Neither the continued burning of coal nor the immediate cessation of coal plants meets all three objectives. What we need is a coherent strategy for the managed phaseout of coal that achieves environmental sustainability, energy security, and a just transition for communities whose livelihoods depend on coal. Finance alone is not enough but it can play a critical role in getting us from coal to clean. A combination of public and private capital, coupled with appropriate policy reforms, can provide the right economic model to encourage owners to voluntarily wind down their coal fired power plants ahead of their technical end of life. We will also need innovative financing structures to blend public and private capital. But there are significant challenges to financing the early retirement of coal. Financial institutions will need to justify how such financing is consistent with their net-zero commitments, especially when their financed emissions rise over the short term. They will need to address potential greenwashing concerns that new coal capacity is being created to replace the coal plants being phased out early. There is a lack of scalable risk sharing mechanisms to support coal plant owners in their transition to cleaner energy.