Green-focused network of financial regulators picks first chairman

THE Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) has appointed its first chairman and a governance framework after its inaugural meeting in France on Jan 24.

Frank Elderson, a member of the governing board of De Nederlandsche Bank, will be the group's first chairman. Banque de France will serve as secretariat of the NGFS.

"It's an honour to be appointed," Mr Elderson said in a statement. "During this inaugural meeting all participating central banks and supervisors showed a strong collective commitment to the greening of the financial system."

The Jan 24 meeting came just over a month after central banks and supervisory bodies in Singapore, China, England, France, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands and Sweden agreed to collectively address climate change and sustainability.

At the meeting, the founding members also agreed on a work programme for the coming year, including experience sharing and identification of best practices on the supervisory and macrofinancial dimensions of climate-related and environmental risks, and on options to scale up green financing.

The NGFS will next meet in Amsterdam ahead of a high-level international conference on climate risk for supervisors on April 6.