Sleijpen urges faster transition as climate losses mount
Olaf Sleijpen, President of De Nederlandsche Bank, urged faster climate action at the Green Swan conference in Manila on October 19, 2026. He cited annual weather-related damage averaging $384 billion over the past five years.
Physical damage reaches economic mandates
Sleijpen said weather-related damage had more than doubled since the early 2000s.
A Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) study for the G7 found GDP losses up to 57 percent and inflation increases up to 17 percentage points.
European Central Bank research puts almost 15 percent of euro area output at risk from surface water scarcity alone.
The World Bank estimates that half of global GDP depends on biodiversity, natural capital and ecosystem services.
Seven of nine planetary boundaries have been crossed.
All 11 years from 2015 through 2025 were the warmest on record.
Citing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, he said some warming consequences are irreversible on human timescales.
Cheaper renewables preserve a choice
Ten years after Paris, current policies point to 2.8°C warming by 2100, versus up to 3.5°C before the agreement.
International Renewable Energy Agency figures show renewable capacity above 2.5 times its 2015 level; utility-scale solar costs fell around 90 percent since 2010.
Sleijpen said the 1.5°C carbon budget was almost exhausted, with an overshoot very likely within a decade.
Each additional 0.1°C intensifies extremes.
The NGFS has over 150 members and offers long-term scenarios and horizons of three to five years, alongside supervisory, monetary and macroprudential guidance.
Adaptation cannot replace emissions cuts
Sleijpen's distinction is explicit: adaptation complements mitigation rather than replacing it.
Delaying the transition raises economic costs and leaves physical damage unchecked, he said.
Central banks assess those risks; governments in almost 200 countries retain responsibility for climate policy.
Source: Shackleton’s lesson - we still have a choice
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