What Sleijpen said in Frankfurt
Olaf Sleijpen made the case that climate change is now a core macroeconomic driver, not a side issue. "We see increasing shocks to the economy from extreme weather, high uncertainty, and large-scale structural changes to the economy as a consequence of climate change," he said on Thursday in Frankfurt. In his words, central banks have to weigh how this affects "monetary policy transmission, equilibrium real interest rates, and added complexity in communication" - the heart of their job.
Central banks are no longer moving in lockstep
Around the world, officials have been trying to price in climate risk because it can filter into inflation, financial stability, and the health of bank balance sheets. But the playbooks now differ. The ECB is still weaving those risks into how it runs and supervises the system, while the Federal Reserve has pared back its climate work.
In January 2025, the Federal Reserve withdrew from the NGFS, contending the network addresses areas beyond its statutory mandate, and it also disbanded internal groups that had been examining climate-related financial risks. Those steps came as Donald Trump returned to the White House, with his administration openly attacking green policies. Without naming a country, Sleijpen pushed back: "It is no longer possible to deny the economic impact of climate change," he said. "We can see it, we can feel it, we can measure it. That has nothing to do with ideology, that is reality."
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