Skopje, 25 January 2024 (MIA) — The National Bank and the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning will exchange information for the purposes of research and development of policies to deal with climate change, according to Governor Anita Angelovska Bezhoska and Minister of Environment Kaja Shukova at a meeting held to discuss new cooperation plans.

"Climate change affects every social sphere, including finance, which is why an increasing number of central banks have launched activities to deal with climate change and support the green transition," the National Bank said in a press release.

At the meeting, the central banker said the National Bank was fully aware of the risks of climate change, both for the fiscal system and the entire economy, so over the past few years it had taken steps to address it within the scope of its competences.

"We recently adopted the first Mid-Term Plan of the National Bank's activities in the domain of climate risk management," Governor Angelovska Bezhoska said.

"To strengthen the resilience of the banking system to climate risks, we have produced statistics on green financing and adopted guidelines for banks on how to manage risks related to climate change."

"We have also published research on the banking system's exposure to physical and transition risks related to climate change," she said.

Minister Shukova stressed that the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning would continue strengthening the cooperation with the central bank on adopting criteria for sustainable and green financing as well as exchanging information.

Meeting participants highlighted the importance of having quality data for researching the potential effects of climate change on the economy and the banking system. mr/