This book examines selected actions and investments of the European Central Bank (ECB) from a climate and sustainability standpoint. Shedding new light on the topic from various angles – ethical, philosophical, political, economical and legal – it situates sustainability mainstreaming in the finance and investment field at all levels. The former ECB President Mario Draghi once said that he considered sustainable development and an intact environment to be human rights, and therefore enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The acting ECB President Christine Lagarde added that the future path for the climate is uncertain, but it would remain within our power to influence it. However, with all that in mind the ECB’s policy of buying assets as securities is often questionable. This volume analyzes these actions in connection with sustainability, and puts forward practical recommendations for improving the ECB’s investment strategy on its way creating a sustainable financial market.
Author(s): Harald Bolsinger, Johannes Hoffmann, Bernd Villhauer
Series: Sustainable Finance
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 84
City: Cham
Preface
Contents
Where Do We Stand When It Comes to Sustainable Financial Markets?
1 Introduction
2 Ethical Environmental Investments and their Origins
3 What Does Sustainability Mean in the Financial Sector?
4 Exclusion Criteria Versus Best-in-Class Approach
5 ECB and Sustainability
5.1 What Are the Causes?
References
Ethical Standards Beyond Monetary Policy: Approaches to a Philosophical Foundation
1 Europe as a Community of Shared Values
2 Values and Law
3 The Law as the Only Available Implementation Measure Within the Context of a Social and Ecological Market Economy?
4 The ECB’s Contribution to a European Social and Ecological Market Economy
5 Market Conforming and Non-market Based Policies
6 Future Tasks for the President: Christine Lagarde’s Decisions
Bibliography
Fundamental Rights in the Core Business of the ECB: No Issue?!
1 How It All Began
1.1 Climate Challenge and Beyond
1.2 Hidden Places of Horror
1.3 The ECB as Role Model
1.4 Ethical Blindness in the Eurosystem
2 The EU Petition 429/2017
2.1 Content Overview
2.2 Barely Acceptable
2.3 Patience
2.4 Overview of Official Answers
2.4.1 European Commission
2.4.2 ECON Committee
2.4.3 ECB
2.5 A Wind of Change
3 Summary and Outlook: Opportunity for a Global Paradigm Shift
On the Role of the ECB in Sustainable Finance
1 Article
Reference
Legal Approaches to Encouraging the ECB to Comply with Human Rights Aspects When Establishing the List of Marketable Assets
1 Legal Background
2 Violations of Fundamental Rights of Natural Persons
3 Legal Instruments
3.1 Prospects of Success of a Nullity Action Pursuant to Art. 263 TFEU
3.1.1 Recital 3
3.1.2 Recital 7
3.1.3 Recital 10
3.2 Other Possible Courses of Action
References
Central Banks in Europe: On the Road to more Sustainability
1 What Impact Can Central Banks Achieve—Or Avoid?
2 What Are Progressive Central Banks in Europe Doing in Concrete Terms?
2.1 De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB)
2.2 Banque de France
2.3 Norges Bank
2.4 Riksbank
3 How Consistent Are the Central Banks at the Forefront of Sustainability?
3.1 Case in Point: De Nederlandsche Bank
3.2 Case in Point: German Bundesbank
3.3 Case in Point: The Swiss National Bank
3.4 Case in Point: Norges Bank
4 What Do These Pioneers Really Achieve in the World of Central Banking?
5 What Is the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) Doing?
6 Does This Trend Really Cover the Thematic Breadth of Sustainability?
6.1 Outlook
References
Appendices
Appendix A
Appendix B
Circumstances
Supporting Documents
Remedy
Reasons
