Keynote speech by Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, at the Sustainable Finance Lab Symposium on Finance in Transition

Amsterdam, 4 October 2024

Many great discoveries have been made outside well-controlled laboratory environments. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin when he returned from holiday and found mould growing on a Petri dish containing bacteria he was studying. Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity by accident after he put the equipment he used to study the relationship between x-rays and sunlight in a drawer on an overcast day. And Archimedes famously had his “eureka” moment while sitting in a bathtub.

Not all “eureka” moments happen in well-controlled laboratory experiments, but laboratories nevertheless provide an ideal controlled environment to make major discoveries. To develop ideas, test theories and move from scientific findings to practical solutions for real-world problems….