Sustainable finance data for central banks: a new Irving Fisher Committee survey

This policy brief sheds light on sustainable finance data needs, availability and gaps, leveraging on a survey conducted among the members of the Irving Fisher Committee. A first key insight is that environmental, social and governance (ESG) data are in growing demand from central banks to support their policies, particularly micro- and macroprudential supervision, asset and reserve management activities, the conduct of monetary policy and financial inclusion measures, as well as specific in-house risk assessment and statistical work. Second, central banks are making significant contributions to setting up statistical frameworks for sustainable finance; for instance, they have been instrumental in facilitating the development of green taxonomies. Third, being closely associated with other key stakeholders involved in climate-related data work has been an important element to facilitate the agenda. Fourth, and in a somewhat different way than in other areas, there is an abundance of data to be considered, not least with the growing role played by the large number of data providers located outside the traditional perimeter of official statistics. These various insights have helped to define three main recommendations for guiding central banks’ work on sustainable finance statistics.