The Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest convened an international conference on 6 February 2024 at the Abdou Diouf International Conference Centre in Diamniadio, Senegal, gathering central bank governors and senior representatives, finance and environment ministers from WAEMU states, heads of Union bodies, financial-sector experts, professional associations of WAMU financial institutions and climate-risk specialists to examine the role of central banks in addressing climate change challenges.
The conference was organised around four sessions: the state of thinking on climate change and its implications for Africa's economic development; central bank actions to strengthen the resilience of the financial system to climate change; the contribution of monetary policy to addressing climate-related challenges; and approaches to the green financing of African economies. A round table of central bank governors closed the proceedings.
GREEN FINANCE SESSION
The session on green finance, titled 'From intention to action', looked at how African economies can be financed as they go green.
Other sessions examined the implications of climate change for financial stability and for the conduct of monetary policy by central banks. The BCEAO is the shared central bank for eight West African nations using the CFA franc.
CLIMATE POLICY PRIORITIES
The BCEAO said the lessons drawn from the conference would help identify the priority areas to be covered by an African central bank's climate policy.