Ida Wolden Bache: Climate change and monetary policy

Lecture by Ms Ida Wolden Bache, Governor of Norges Bank (Central Bank of Norway), at the Norwegian School of Economies (NHH), Bergen, 7 October 2025.

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

Presentation accompanying the speech

Thank you, Helge, for that kind introduction! It is a great pleasure to be here at NHH – Norwegian School of Economics. And since I know you like to divide people into two groups, those who walk on escalators and those who don't, I can assure you that I did not stand still on the escalator at Flesland Airport when we arrived here in Bergen yesterday!

The world has also not been standing still in recent years. The pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and global trade uncertainty have caused large movements in the economy and financial markets. We have been reminded that inflation can rise rapidly when high demand and significant supply-side shocks interact. When inflation surged in 2022, we raised the policy rate sharply and rapidly, and only this year have we started a cautious easing of monetary policy. However, the job of tackling high inflation has not been fully completed. From our current standpoint, we do not envisage a large decline in the policy rate ahead.