Climate change is the greatest challenge of our time.
No area remains untouched, not even the financial system.
The European Central Bank (ECB) and its associated European Systemic Risk Council (ESRB) rightly point out the risks that climate change poses to European banks, insurers and investment companies.
Investors have long since started to consider the dangers in company valuations.
That is correct, because in the long run high CO2 emissions represent a financial risk.
The central banks and the supervisory authorities must encourage investors in this reassessment and can accelerate the process by taking appropriate measures.
Whether this should be green bond purchases or equity relief for climate-friendly loans must be discussed.
It would be all the more gratifying if the climate and environmental risks were quickly included in the catalog of credit risks.
That is the job of the rating agencies, who have discovered the subject, but are breaking new ground here, as are the other participants in the financial market.
In view of the existential risks of climate change, the fight against it cannot be carried out quickly enough.
But sustainability also requires patience.
There is now awareness of climate protection in the financial markets.
A few years ago that was unimaginable.