Frank Elderson: Climate is big business

Speech by Mr Frank Elderson, Executive Director of the Netherlands Bank, at the Conference "Climate is Big Business", organized by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment and the Californian EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), San Francisco, 24 May 2017.

I have a confession to make. I'm a banker. Not just a banker, but a supervisor of banks. A central banker. So what on earth is someone like me doing at a conference about sustainability? After all, my industry has a reputation for being grey, not green. Concerned with greenbacks, rather than green banks. Pinstripes, not pine trees. But today I'd like to talk to you about why the smart money is on green finance. Why we have to take on the challenges together. Why we need to make the sustainable development goals work.