Sabine Mauderer: Green energy and green finance for a sustainable Europe

Speech by Dr Sabine Mauderer, Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank, at the 8th Green Finance Forum, Euro Finance Week, Frankfurt am Main, 15 November 2022.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Central bank speech  | 
15 November 2022
by Sabine Mauderer
PDF full text
(118kb)
  |  5 pages

1 Introduction

Ladies and gentlemen,

We are experiencing war in Europe. And we are seeing inflation of 10.7 percent in the euro area. This begs the question:

Is this the time for green? Do we have the means for transformation, for a Green Europe? My answer to this question is clear: Yes, it is high time for a sustainable Europe!

Why? There are two main reasons:

First: Climate change is speeding up at unprecedented rates. Last summer, with its record-breaking heat waves, was a case in point. Extreme weather events are causing damage that runs into the billions.

According to Eurostat, over the past decade, climate-related economic losses in the EU amounted to 145 billion euro.

The second reason for a sustainable Europe is the geopolitical shift. This has sent energy prices soaring – a major driver of the global inflation surge. Energy price inflation came to 41.9 percent in October. So, Europe is paying the price for its dependence on fossil fuels.