Keynote speech by Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the 2026 Sustainable Development Festival

Milan, 6 May 2026

Thank you for the opportunity to speak at the Sustainable Development Festival.

Today, I will argue that the current energy crisis serves as a powerful reminder that Europe’s path to robust and stable economic growth is only as viable as it is sustainable. We should care about sustainability not just, or even primarily, to protect the environment, but also because it is a key condition for our economic stability and prosperity. And in doing so, we Europeans can pursue our own specific interests, while also contributing to the common good.^[1]

We are facing the second major energy shock in just four years. Following on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the war in Iran and the Middle East is now further hampering energy flows. And the closure of the Hormuz Strait is starting to disrupt global supply chains.

This shock has interrupted a…