Remarks by Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, at an event on climate-related financial risks hosted by the Banco Central do Brasil

Rio de Janeiro, 27 March 2024

Many thanks to the Banco Central do Brasil for inviting me here today. I am honoured to be speaking in Rio de Janeiro’s botanical garden. It is home to more than 6,500 different species – just a fraction of the more than 130,000 species that are estimated to be found in Brazil, the most biodiverse country in the world. But even this little glimpse into Brazil’s biodiversity is more than sufficient to appreciate the concept of natural capital and the tremendous value it represents.

At the same time, global heating and nature degradation are putting this natural capital at risk. And central banks and supervisors around the world recognise that this poses a serious threat to the stability of our economies and the robustness of our financial system….