Michele Bullock uses speech to detail how central bank is preparing for increased risk of extreme weather events
Global heating will present the Reserve Bank with “acute” challenges, including heightened uncertainty around how the climate will change and the resulting impacts on the economy and financial system, the incoming governor, Michele Bullock, has said.
Bullock, now deputy RBA governor before her elevation to the top post on 18 September, used her Sir Leslie Melville lecture at the Australian National University on Tuesday – after a brief disruption from protesters – to detail how the central bank was preparing for a warming world and the increased risk of extreme weather events.
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“Climate change and the actions taken in response will have broad-ranging implications for the economy, the financial system and society at large,” Bullock said, including affecting price stability, employment and stability of the financial system.
“The timing and intensity of effects are uncertain, and these could be severe and irreversible if tipping points are reached,” she said.
Bullock’s comments echo some of the issues raised in the federal government’s intergenerational report released last Thursday that found climate change posed “profound” risks. Threats ranged from billions of dollars in lost productivity as high temperatures inhibit safe work to decreased crop yields and more costly disasters.
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