The Covid-19 pandemic offers “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to rebuild the global economy by massively ‘greening’ it to resist climate change, former and current central bankers said on Friday 5 June in an op-ed published in the British daily The Guardian.
“As we consider the next stage of recovery, we must look beyond the immediate crisis and think more strategically about how we do it”, wrote Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Banque de France, Frank Elderson, Executive Director at the Dutch Central Bank, and Mark Carney, Mr Bailey’s predecessor and UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance.
Calling for action now, they argue for more ambitious stimulus plans focused on the “transition to clean energy”, including renovating buildings and investing in renewable energy infrastructure.
Regarding the role of central banks, they consider that they should use their mandates and expertise in financial stability “to ensure climate risks are effectively managed in the financial system”. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)