In that respect, we have an obligation to understand the risks relating to climate change and the channels through which they might affect the pursuit of our main aims. At the same time we need to make sure that the participants in the financial system are equally aware of those risks. However, in my opinion, central banks are not the ones who are to be expected to take the lead fighting climate change, since their instruments are not as efficient as the ones government can employ to fulfill that task. In addition, if faced with a conflict between maintaining price stability and/or financial stability, and fighting climate change, central banks would and have the obligation, to give priority to price stability and financial stability as their primary mandates. With today’s conference we, at the Croatian National Bank, are appealing to banks and other financial institutions to reflect on how to incorporate climate risks into their business strategies and make their business-making more robust and resilient to hazards connected with climate change. We would also like to encourage banks to seize the opportunities brought about by transition towards low-carbon and nature-neutral economy. Finally, and equally important, we want to note that we do not save nature only by switching to low-energy lightbulbs or choosing a hybrid or electric car but also by investing consciously. Banks could have a noticeable positive influence if they were to finance environmentally friendly projects and make green investments.
Boris Vujčić: Adapting to climate change has no alternative Speech by Mr Boris Vujčić, Governor of the Croatian National Bank, at the online event "The role of banks in greening our economies", 29 April 2021. * * * Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, Let me first welcome all of you who have gathered in front of your screens and decided to devote a couple of hours to join today’s conference. It is yet another event that the Croatian National Bank organizes jointly with EBRD, with whom we have a long lasting and productive relationship. Both our institutions have recognized our responsibility to put the issue of banks’ role in climate transition into the spotlight, and open a discussion on how banks, other financial institutions, and central banks and regulators can properly address the climate emergency that is already transforming our living and working patterns. Until recently, it was uncommon for central bankers and bankers in general to talk about environmental issues. So, how did we get to this point, and why should we study the dynamics of climate change and environmental degradation and incorporate it into our business decisions? For more than fifty years people have known that the technological advancement and development that we enjoy comes at a price – the destruction of the environment and a perilous rise in global temperatures. As worrisome scientific discoveries heated up the activism and triggered a grass-roots ecological movement, global institutions and politicians soon embraced the environmental concerns as well.