Green Swan 2021: coordinating finance on climate

Joint virtual conference by the Bank for International Settlements, Bank of France, International Monetary Fund and Network for Greening the Financial System, 2-4 June 2021.

A volume featuring special guest speeches and high-level panels of the conference is available here.

The Bank for International Settlements, Bank of France, International Monetary Fund and Network for Greening the Financial System joined forces to co-sponsor a truly unique global virtual conference on "How in practice can the financial sector take immediate action against climate change-related risks?".

In the current age, we are all well aware of the main risks and challenges posed by climate change. The 2020 book The green swan: central banking and financial stability in the age of climate change called for strengthening coordination to address these risks, and for immediate action. Many initiatives by central banks and other actors are already under way – with more under development.

This conference showcased these initiatives and helped to identify more potential practical solutions. Its results can serve as a global public good for other events ahead of COP26, and beyond.

The conference gathered the four heads of the co-sponsoring organisations, three Nobel Laureates, 15+ current and former central bank Governors and top executives, 25+ senior policymakers and official sector experts, 20+ prominent academics and 25+ senior executives and CEOs from the private sector. They discussed the most feasible and concrete proposals for a more sustainable economy, financial sector and society.

  • Tim Adams
  • Tobias Adrian
  • Michel Aglietta
  • Enrique Alberola
  • Nathalie Aufauvre
  • Bertrand Badré
  • Andrew Bailey
  • Valérie Baudson
  • Rostin Behnam
  • Erik Berglof
  • Magnus Billing
  • Sarah Bloom Raskin
  • Jeffrey Bohn
  • Patrick Bolton
  • Francois Bourguignon
  • Sarah Breeden
  • Remy Briand
  • Herman Bril
  • Barbara Buchner
  • Roberto Campos Neto
  • Mark Carney
  • Agustin Carstens
  • Chen Long
  • Laurent Clerc
  • Benoît Coeuré
  • Jean-François Coppenolle
  • Yannis Dafermos
  • Thierry Déau
  • Rafael Del Villar Alrich
  • Morgan Després
  • Alejandro Díaz de León
  • Andreas Dombret
  • Charlie Donovan
  • Torsten Ehlers
  • Niklas Ekvall
  • Frank Elderson
  • Ulrike Elsenhuber
  • Robert Engle
  • Suren Erkman
  • Laurent Fabius
  • Ambroise Fayolle
  • Thierry Fornas
  • Arminio Fraga
  • Kristalina Georgieva
  • Ian Goldin
  • Al Gore
  • Sylvie Goulard
  • Geoffrey Heal
  • Irene Heemskerk
  • Pablo Hernández de Cos
  • Corrinne Ho
  • Haizhou Huang
  • Anandakumar Jegarasasingam
  • Thomas Jordan
  • Marcin Kacperczyk
  • Anshula Kant
  • Denis Kessler
  • Lesetja Kganyago
  • Klaas Knot
  • Johanna Köb
  • Isabelle Kocher
  • Claudia Kruse
  • Haruhiko Kuroda
  • Christine Lagarde
  • Robert Litterman
  • Timo Löyttyniemi
  • Isabelle Mateos y Lago
  • Richard Mattison
  • Sabine Mauderer
  • Matthieu Maurin
  • Emilie Mazzacurati
  • Ravi Menon
  • Benoit Mojon
  • Mario Monti
  • Elizabeth Mrema
  • Xavier Musca
  • Joseph Noss
  • Maurice Obstfeld
  • José Antonio Ocampo
  • Jim O'Neill
  • Mari Pangestu
  • Nandita Parshad
  • Ceyla Pazarbasioglu
  • Luiz Pereira da Silva
  • Joe Perry
  • Ann Pettifor
  • Thierry Philipponnat
  • Jean Pisani-Ferry
  • Brune Poirson
  • Adam Posen
  • Jerome Powell
  • Alexandre Rambaud
  • Lucrezia Reichlin
  • Carmen Reinhart
  • Fernando Restoy
  • Hélène Rey
  • Fiona Reynolds
  • Remy Rioux
  • Simone Robbers
  • Nick Robins
  • Olivier Rousseau
  • Glenn Rudebusch
  • Marc Sadler
  • Frédéric Samama
  • Dirk Schoenmaker
  • Minouche Shafik
  • Olaf Sleijpen
  • Nicholas Stern
  • Joseph Stiglitz
  • Romain Svartzman
  • Josué Tanaka
  • Gillian Tett
  • Torsten Thiele
  • Massamba Thioye
  • Siddharth Tiwari
  • Laurence Tubiana
  • Shalini Vajjhala
  • François Villeroy de Galhau
  • Ignazio Visco
  • Ulrich Volz
  • Axel Weber
  • Jens Weidmann
  • David Wood
  • Yi Gang
  • Jeffery Yong
  • Eddie Yue
  • Nor Shamsiah Yunus
  • Tao Zhang
  • Zhou Xiaochuan

Featured speakers (in alphabetical order)

4 June

4 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Laurent Fabius speaks about "This is not time for business as usual".

4 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

What are the policies currently considered by central banks, regulators and supervisors – and their challenges – to address climate change?

4 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

How can innovations in market-based approaches using consumer carbon tracing influence consumers' lifestyle choices?

4 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Can we provide concrete green investment opportunities for the current abundance of savings? How to structure implied Temperature / 1.5-degree Celsius Portfolios?

4 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Zhou Xiaochuan speaks at the Green Swan Conference 2021.

4 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

How can central banks, supervisors and regulators help to mobilise and coordinate with other actors (Treasuries, private sector) in the fight against climate change?

4 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

How are new investments adapting to integrate biodiversity loss risks? How are the impacts of these investment measured?

4 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

How can Development Banks address the massively increased financing needs for green projects? What kind of innovative solutions can be developed?

4 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Nicolas Stern speaks about "Economic leadership for transformation in a critical decade: managing risks and fostering investment".

4 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Central banks and climate change: how to manage expectations, balance actions and communication and contribute to coordinate with other important actors?

4 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Luiz Pereira da Silva draws the main messages of the Green Swan Conference and Ignazio Visco talks about the conference messages in light of the G20 Presidency programme.

3 June

3 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Sylvie Goulard introduces the second day of the Green Swan Conference 2021 and Mario Monti delivers a special guest speech.

3 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

How should financial stability, regulation and supervision be considered in the context of increasing climate-related risks?

3 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Measuring climate-related risks in macroeconomic and global terms: do we have the right mind set, tools and models?

3 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Do we have the right financial and insurance instruments to deal with the impact of climate change?

3 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Joseph Stiglitz speaks at the Green Swan Conference 2021.

3 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Frank Elderson speaks at the Green Swan Conference 2021.

3 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

What are the methods and metrics currently being used to assess climate-related risks in investment decisions?

3 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

What are the challenges to having "greener cities" – and how to finance them?

3 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

How is Green R&D doing? How critical is alternative energy financing?

3 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Sarah Bloom  Raskin speaks about "Climate change and the precautionary imperative".

3 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Andrew Bailey speaks about "Tackling climate change for real: progress and next steps".

2 June

2 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

The heads of the organising institutions discuss how in practice the financial sector can take immediate action against climate change-related risks.

2 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Mainstreaming climate risk management: what next?

2 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Biodiversity: what does its loss imply for our society? How can we better assess and integrate potential risks?

2 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

How do executives internally lead and manage the paradigm shift about climate change in their institutions?

2 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Do we take sufficient account of the redistributive impacts of climate change?

2 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Robert Engle speaks at the Green Swan Conference 2021.

2 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

What is the role of governments and IFIs in mitigating risks and coordinating the policy response to climate change?

2 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Climate change-related risks data and accounting: how are existing methods being implemented? What are the alternatives to the existing reporting methodologies?

2 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

What is the true resilience of our financial systems to climate change risks with the buffers we currently have?

2 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Jens Weidmann speaks about "Climate risks, financial markets and central banks' risk management" at the Green Swan Conference 2021.

2 Jun 2021 Green Swan 2021

Tao Zhang speaks about "Climate change: our most global challenge" at the Green Swan Conference 2021.

Sessions marked with were livestreamed on this page.

View agenda in PDF

2 June

12:15PM - 1:15PM Introduction: Why this Conference? How in practice can the financial sector take immediate action against climate change-related risks?

Moderator: Minouche Shafik (LSE)

  • Kristalina Georgieva (IMF)
  • François Villeroy de Galhau (Banque de France)
  • Frank Elderson (ECB; NGFS)
  • Agustín Carstens (BIS)
1:15PM - 1:45PM

Mainstreaming climate risk management: what next?

Mark Carney (Finance Adviser to the UK Prime Minister for COP 26; UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance)

1:45PM - 3:00PM

Parallel sessions

  • Geoffrey Heal (Columbia Business School)
  • Richard Mattison (S&P Global Trucost)
  • Elizabeth Mrema (Secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity)
  • Jim O'Neill (Chatham House)
  • Dirk Schoenmaker (Rotterdam School of Management)
  • Torsten Thiele (LSE)
Moderator: Romain Svartzman (Banque de France)
  • Valérie Baudson (Amundi)
  • Roberto Campos Neto (Central Bank of Brazil)
  • Isabelle Kocher (former ENGIE CEO)
  • Axel Weber (UBS)
Moderator: Corrinne Ho (BIS)
  • François Bourguignon (Paris School of Economics)
  • Mari Pangestu (World Bank)
  • Ann Pettifor (Policy Research in Macroeconomics)
  • Fiona Reynolds (PRI)
  • David Wood (Harvard Kennedy School)
Moderator: Jeffery Yong (BIS)
3:00PM - 3:15PM Break
3:15PM - 3:45PM Special guest speech by Robert Engle (Michael Armellino Professor of Finance, NYU Stern School of Business)
3:45PM - 4:15PM

Our climate crisis, the financial system and the sustainability revolution

Al Gore (Chairman, Generation Investment Management)

4:15PM - 5:30PM Parallel session: Panel discussions
  • Maurice Obstfeld (UC Berkeley)
  • José Antonio Ocampo (Columbia University SIPA)
  • Ceyla Pazarbasioglu (IMF)
  • Adam Posen (Peterson Institute for International Economics)
  • Marc Sadler (World Bank)
Moderator: Patrick Bolton (Columbia University)
  • Magnus Billing (Alecta)
  • Klaas Knot (DNB; FSB Vice Chair)
  • Emilie Mazzacurati (Moody's)
  • Lucrezia Reichlin (London Business School)
Moderator: Joe Perry (IAIS secretariat)
  • Nathalie Aufauvre (Banque de France)
  • Rostin Behnam (CFTC)
  • Sarah Breeden (Bank of England)
  • Alejandro Díaz de León (Banco de México)
  • Glenn Rudebusch (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco)
  • Ulrich Volz (SOAS University of London)
Moderator: Joseph Noss (FSB secretariat)
5:30PM - 5:45PM Break
5:45PM - 6:00PM Climate risks, financial markets and central banks' risk management

Jens Weidmann (Chair of the BIS Board of Directors and President of the Deutsche Bundesbank)
6:00PM - 6:30PM Climate change: our most global challenge

Tao Zhang (Deputy Managing Director, IMF)

3 June

1:00PM - 1:15PM Introduction by Sylvie Goulard (Second Deputy Governor, Banque de France)
1:15PM - 1:45PM Special guest speech by Mario Monti (President of Bocconi University; former Prime Minister of Italy)
1:45PM - 3:00PM Parallel session: Panel discussions
  • Tobias Adrian (IMF)
  • Michel Aglietta (CEPII)
  • Yannis Dafermos (SOAS University of London)
  • Arminio Fraga (Gávea Investimentos)
  • Timo Löyttyniemi (The State Pension Fund of Finland)
  • Hélène Rey (London Business School)
Moderator: Fernando Restoy (BIS)
  • Robert Litterman (Kepos Capital)
  • Thierry Philipponnat (Finance Watch)
  • Jean Pisani-Ferry (Sciences Po Paris)
  • Carmen Reinhart (World Bank)
  • Nick Robins (LSE)
  • Laurence Tubiana (European Climate Foundation)
Moderator: Enrique Alberola (BIS)
  • Bertrand Badré (Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital)
  • Jeffrey Bohn (Swiss Re)
  • Rafael Del Villar Alrich (Banco de México)
  • Andreas Dombret (Columbia University SIPA; Oliver Wyman)
Moderator: Ulrike Elsenhuber (BIS)
3:00PM - 3:30PM Special guest speech by Joseph Stiglitz (Professor, Columbia University)
3:30PM - 3:45PM Break
3:45PM - 4:15PM Special guest speech by Frank Elderson (Member of the Executive Board and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board, ECB; Chair, NGFS)
4:15PM - 5:30PM Parallel session: Panel discussions
  • Remy Briand (MSCI)
  • Herman Bril (Arabesque Asset Management)
  • Olivier Rousseau (Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites)
Moderator: Benoît Mojon (BIS)
  • Barbara Buchner (Climate Policy Initiative)
  • Thierry Déau (Meridiam)
  • Torsten Ehlers (BIS)
  • Josué Tanaka (C40 Cities; LSE)
  • Shalini Vajjhala (Re:focus Partners)
Moderator: Anandakumar Jegarasasingam (BIS)
  • Tim Adams (IIF)
  • Charlie Donovan (Imperial College London)
  • Suren Erkman (University of Lausanne)
  • Thierry Fornas (EcoAct)
  • Ian Goldin (University of Oxford)
Moderator: Laurent Clerc (Banque de France)
5:30PM - 6:00PM Climate change and the precautionary imperative

Sarah Bloom Raskin (former Deputy Secretary, United States Treasury; former Governor, Federal Reserve Board)
6:00PM - 6:30PM Tackling climate change for real: progress and next steps

Andrew Bailey (Governor, Bank of England)

4 June

8:30AM - 9:00AM Special guest speech by Laurent Fabius (former President of COP21 / Paris Agreement)
9:00AM - 10:15AM Parallel sessions: Panel discussions
  • Pablo Hernández de Cos (Bank of Spain; BCBS Chair)
  • Thomas Jordan (Swiss National Bank)
  • Sabine Mauderer (Deutsche Bundesbank)
  • Simone Robbers (Reserve Bank of New Zealand)

Moderator: Morgan Després (Banque de France)

  • Chen Long (Luohan Academy)
  • Brune Poirson (Accor)
  • Massamba Thioye (UNFCCC)

Moderator: Benoît Cœuré (BIS)

  • Jean-François Coppenolle (Aviva)
  • Niklas Ekvall (AP4)
  • Marcin Kacperczyk (Imperial College London)
  • Johanna Koeb (Zurich Insurance)
  • Isabelle Mateos y Lago (BlackRock)

Moderator: Frédéric Samama (CPR)

10:15AM - 10:30AM Break
10:30AM - 11:00AM Special guest speech by Zhou Xiaochuan (President, China Society for Finance and Banking; Vice Chairman, Boao Forum for Asia; former Governor, People's Bank of China)
11:00AM - 12:15PM Parallel session: Panel discussions
  • Lesetja Kganyago (SARB)
  • Haruhiko Kuroda (Bank of Japan)
  • Ravi Menon (MAS)
  • Eddie Yue (HKMA)
  • Nor Shamsiah Yunus (Bank Negara Malaysia)
Moderator: Haizhou Huang (CICC)
  • Claudia Kruse (APG Asset Management)
  • Matthieu Maurin (Iceberg Data Lab)
  • Alexandre Rambaud (AgroParisTech-CIRED)
  • Olaf Sleijpen (DNB)
Moderator: Irene Heemskerk (DNB)
  • Erik Berglof (AIIB)
  • Ambroise Fayolle (EIB)
  • Anshula Kant (World Bank)
  • Xavier Musca (Crédit Agricole)
  • Nandita Parshad (EBRD)
  • Rémy Rioux (AFD)
Moderator: Siddharth Tiwari (BIS)
12:15PM - 12:30PM Break
12:30PM - 1:00PM Economic leadership for transformation in a critical decade: managing risks and fostering investment

Nicholas Stern (IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government and Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics)
1:00PM - 2:45PM Concluding panel

Moderator: Gillian Tett (Financial Times)

  • Agustín Carstens (BIS)
  • Christine Lagarde (ECB)
  • Yi Gang (People's Bank of China)
  • Jerome Powell (Federal Reserve Board of Governors)
  • François Villeroy de Galhau (Banque de France; NGFS)

2:45PM - 3:00PM

Main messages of the conference by Luiz A Pereira da Silva (Deputy General Manager, BIS)
3:00PM - 3:30PM The conference messages in light of the G20 Presidency programme

Ignazio Visco (Governor, Bank of Italy; G20 Presidency)