Assistant Governor Simone Robbers says climate change has the potential to present significant risks to both the financial system and the real economy, particularly during downturns.
“This disclosure details the steps we are taking to enhance RBNZ’s resilience to risks while supporting the transition to a climate-resilient, low-emissions economy.” Ms Robbers says.
Disclosing climate-related risks and opportunities is becoming a mainstream practice among private and public sector organisations globally, and we are committed to keep pace with industry best practice.
“We are kaitiaki (guardians) of New Zealand’s financial ecosystem” says Ms Robbers. “Anything that challenges the stability of the financial system and our economy, such as climate-related risks, is our core business. We will continue to demonstrate transparency in future disclosures, playing our part in building a climate resilient financial system.”
Our disclosures are guided by the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), which provides a framework tailored to meet the needs of central banks and supervisors. While the Aotearoa New Zealand Climate Standards (NZ CS) are well-suited for private sector entities, the NGFS approach allows us to address the distinct challenges we face.
Ms Robbers has co-chaired the NGFS workstream ‘Net Zero for Central Banks’ alongside Paolo Angelini Deputy Director General for Financial Supervision and Regulation for Banca D’Italia since 2022, which includes the subgroup on disclosures for central banks that we now co-lead alongside the Bank of England.
Our inaugural disclosure is focused primarily on ‘baseline’ disclosures – the foundational information that the NGFS recommend central banks should provide. Going forward, we aim to incorporate more of the NGFS ‘building block’ disclosures, which relate to advanced components of central bank climate-related risk identification and management.
