Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS)

The Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) was founded around the common acknowledgement that climate-related risks are a source of financial risk. It is therefore within the mandates of Central Banks and Supervisors to ensure the financial system is resilient to these risks.

This group of Central Banks and Supervisors are willing, on a voluntary basis, to exchange experiences, share best practices, contribute to the development of environment and climate risk management in the financial sector, and to mobilize mainstream finance to support the transition toward a sustainable economy.

Its purpose is to define and promote best practices to be implemented within and outside of the membership of the NGFS and to conduct or commission analytical work on green finance.

The network was launched in December 2017, during the One Planet Summit and gathers, as of November 2021, 105 members and 16 observers.

Why it matters

The work of the NGFS provides insights into the form climate-related financial regulation will take.

The NGFS aims to define and promote best practices to be implemented within and outside of its membership and its research is already being used by central banks around the world. The Banque de France, European Central Bank and Bank of England have all used NGFS forecasts to build their stress tests.

Its rapidly growing membership provides an indication of the level of interest in climate-related financial regulation in different jurisdictions.

• The NGFS has grown from eight central banks and supervisors at its inception in 2017 to 105 members and 16 observers across five continents.
• Member interviews provide insights into their thinking and approach.

The NGFS has developed a broad set of analyses and practical tools, including “the NGFS Climate Scenarios” (the scenarios), which have been developed to provide a common starting point for analysing climate risks to the economy and financial system.

While developed primarily for use by central banks and supervisors they may also be useful to the broader financial, academic and corporate communities.

Main areas of work related to climate mainstreaming:

The network has structured its work into five dedicated workstreams:

• Microprudential/Supervision
• Macrofinancial
• Scaling up green finance
• Bridging the data gaps
• Research