Written by: Basant El-Farmawy
A senior official in global central banks warned of the shrinking time available to control the phenomenon of climate change, stressing that the opportunities available to keep global warming within safe limits are almost completely running out, placing the international community before a critical and decisive phase that requires urgent and serious action to limit the expected environmental and economic repercussions.
Decline of the available carbon budget
European Central Bank Governing Council member and Head of the Network for Greening the Financial System, Olaf Sleijpen, during statements made in the Philippine capital, Manila, explained that available scientific data confirms the decline of the carbon budget allocated to limit the rise in global temperatures within 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels, pointing out that this budget has actually run out or is almost doing so, which significantly reduces the options available to political and economic decision-makers around the world.
Difficult choices to limit repercussions
The financial official, who also serves as the head of the Dutch Central Bank, stressed that the world has passed the stage of simple trade-offs between success and absolute failure in dealing with the climate crisis according to the Paris Agreement. He pointed out that the options currently on the table are limited to reaching bad results that are still within the manageable range, or facing catastrophic repercussions that cannot be controlled at all, reflecting the magnitude of the structural challenges facing financial institutions and global markets in light of accelerating climate change and its profound impacts on global economic stability.
