Recital 2

(2)This follows the Governing Council’s monetary policy strategy review, and accompanying climate-related action plan, published on 8 July 2021 ¹ . In that context, the Governing Council acknowledged that addressing climate change is a global challenge and a policy priority for the European Union, and highlighted that climate change and the transition towards a more sustainable economy affect the outlook for price stability through their impact on various macroeconomic indicators and the transmission of monetary policy. Physical and transition risks related to climate change can affect the value and the risk profile of the assets held on the Eurosystem’s balance sheet. This is the case, in particular, with corporate sector asset purchases, as climate-related financial risks to the Eurosystem’s balance sheet are higher for outright purchases than for lending operations. The measures are therefore necessary in order for the Eurosystem to manage, as effectively as possible, the climate-related financial risks to which it is exposed when implementing monetary policy, in pursuit of its primary objective of maintaining price stability. The adoption by the Eurosystem of measures designed to circumscribe the risk of financial losses forms part of the definition and implementation of monetary policy, as also reflected in Article 18.1 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and the European Central Bank (hereinafter the ‘Statute of the ESCB’), pursuant to which the Eurosystem may conduct credit operations with lending based on adequate collateral.