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OeNB and FMA commit themselves to goals of the UN Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow

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In a joint pledge on the occasion of the UN Climate Conference (COP26) taking place in Glasgow, the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) and the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) have declared that they will perform their duties in as environmentally friendly a manner as possible. This relates to their core activities, namely financial market supervision and monetary policy as well as their investments and operational ecology. OeNB and FMA are both members of the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), the members of which consist of central banks and financial supervisory authorities from around the world.

The climate crisis and climate protection present both risks and opportunities for the financial economy. The risks can be roughly broken down into physical risks (catastrophic extreme weather events), transition risks, (the chaotic decarbonisation of the economy) and liability and reputational risks (such as from litigation). Mitigating these risks, including the economic and financial consequences of global warming, is a key challenge of our times. “Central banks and financial supervisors are not the principle actors – parliaments and governments are,” remarked the OeNB’s Governor Robert Holzmann, “but we are able to and also want to contribute – naturally within the scope of our mandate and also as cost-efficiently as possible.”

The OeNB and the FMA are contributing towards raising awareness among banks about risks relating to climate change, and in the case of the FMA, also doing similar for insurance undertakings and other financial services providers. “We know enough in order to be able to act, and clearly still have plenty of work to do in raising awareness about sustainability in the financial economy. Now is the time for them to act!” remarked the FMA’s Executive Board, Helmut Ettl and Eduard Müller. The OeNB and FMA are integrating climate-related and sustainability risks into financial market stability monitoring and supervision of financial market participants. Both institutions are striving to attain robust and internationally consistent disclosure and reporting practices on climate-related and other factors of relevance for sustainability. They are doing this in particular to prevent “greenwashing”.

Furthermore, the OeNB is also committed to making its contribution towards the implementation of the European Central Bank’s action plan to include climate change considerations in the monetary policy strategy. The OeNB is developing a sustainability strategy for its investment in dedicated reserves.

The OeNB and the FMA are also striving to achieve ambitious goals regarding their own operational ecology in the interests of their own credibility. For decades, the OeNB has subjected all of its own activities to certified environmental management, and is continuously reducing energy and material consumption and striving to achieve effective CO2 neutrality in 2040. The FMA is also actively working to reduce its operational carbon footprint, and has established its own sustainability management.

Enquiries should be addressed to:

FMA
Klaus Grubelnik
Tel.: +43-1-24959-6006
0676 88 249516 
[email protected] 
www.fma.gv.at      

OeNB
Dr. Christian Gutlederer
Tel.: +43-1-404 20-6900
[email protected]
www.oenb.at

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