Sabine Mauderer and Fundi Tshazibana join the Network for Greening the Financial System as chair and vice-chair
Sabine Mauderer has taken office as the new chair and Fundi Tshazibana as vice chair of the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), a forum of central banks and supervisors working to improve the green credentials of the financial sector.
Mauderer, executive board member of the Deutsche Bundesbank and previous NGFS vice chair, has replaced Ravi Menon after his two-year stint as head. She was previously chair of the NGFS’s workstream on scaling up green finance.
Tshazibana, deputy governor of the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) and chief executive officer of South Africa’s Prudential Authority, was appointed vice-chair.
The NGFS’ climate scenarios, now in their fourth iteration, are used as a global starting point for analyzing the risks associated with various greenhouse gas transition pathways.
Mauderer is an outspoken advocate for environmental issues in finance and has used her platforms to urge central banks to address nature-related financial risks and strengthen international efforts to foster price and financial stability.
Taking on the climate change challenge
On stepping into the new role, Mauderer said that adapting to climate change is one of the “great tasks and challenges” that lies ahead of the global community. The NGFS, she said, plans to “intensify its work” to scale adaptation finance going forward.
Mauderer said she looks forward to working closely with Tshazibana to “push ahead with our ambitious agenda.”
Coalition of the committed
The NGFS develops research on and policy for mobilizing sustainable finance and managing financial risks associated with climate change and nature loss.
Though their climate scenarios have been criticized by commentators for underestimating climate impacts, they are widely used and have created a common language for academics, politicians, and financial institutions when discussing the low carbon transition.
The NGFS Dubai Stocktake showcases its work and how the group has “evolved from a ‘coalition of the willing’ to a ‘coalition of the committed.’”
“Sabine and Fundi, as the new NGFS chair and vice chair, will bring the NGFS to new heights and advance this important work of greening the financial system”
A key priority for Mauderer and Tshazibana as they step into the NGFS leadership is creating stronger partnerships in the global south. “We are all in the same boat,” Mauderer said. “We only have one planet… Let us collaborate as equal partners.”
As chief executive of the Sarb’s prudential authority, Tshazibana has advanced oversight of climate risks in South Africa. She previously served as an alternate executive director for the International Monetary Fund’s executive board, as well as an analyst for South Africa’s national energy regulator.
Wanted – more central banks from the global south
“Ravi and Sabine have done an exceptional job in building the NGFS and strengthening its work program and membership,” Tshazibana said. “We [now] need more analytical work, more partnerships and new models to address these challenges […] I am especially excited about the broadening of emerging markets and developing countries within the network.”
“Sabine and Fundi, as the new NGFS chair and vice chair, will bring the NGFS to new heights and advance this important work of greening the financial system”, Menon said.
The global NGFS is expanding its network of central banks and supervisors working to make the financial sector more sustainable. Founded in 2017 with just eight members, the NGFS’ is committed to strengthening international efforts to achieve the Paris Climate Agreement goals.
It has grown to 134 members, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, Bank of Korean and European Central Bank, representing five continents and more than 88% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, as well as 80% of the internationally active insurance groups.
NGFS members also supervise all global, systemically important banks.
NGFS members collaborate and produce guidance on various critical topics including on supervisory practices for managing climate-related risks, design and analysis of climate scenarios and the implications of climate change for monetary policy. The collective also provides guidance for central banks on the transition to net zero and the emerging issue of nature-related financial risks.
Outgoing Chair Menon was recently awarded the Distinguished Leadership and Service Award from the Institute of International Finance. Previous recipients of the award include Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank; Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance and former Governor of the Bank of England; and Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister of Finance of Indonesia and previous managing director of the World Bank.
