Luigi Federico Signorini: Build back better - mobilising private finance for a green recovery

Keynote speech by Mr Luigi Federico Signorini, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Italy, at a webinar organized by the City of London Corporation, 15 October 2020.

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

That climate change is one of the key challenges of this century there can be little doubt. To what extent humankind will be able to rise to this challenge depends on several actors, each playing their role. Let me start by listing three of them:

• individuals;
• governments;
• the market and financial authorities, including central banks.

The list is not, of course, exhaustive: it is meant to provide a background for what  I shall say when developing this meeting's theme, emphasising among other things the role of central banks and financial supervisors. At the end, I am going to add some words on the Bank of Italy's own sustainable investment policies.

A premise is in required. Whatever the eventual route to climate action, full awareness among the general public must be the starting point, at least in democratic countries that use the market to allocate economic resources. People's awareness drives their choices as consumers, voters and investors. It thus ultimately shapes the performance of the whole cast of actors.