Central banks: Climate governors of last resort?

Abstract

The global and regional leadership of central banks in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened public and political debates over their role in the governance of an arguably more fundamental planetary crisis: the climate crisis. Strategically harnessing the resources and reach of central banks would seem crucial to achieving a genuine step-change in the governance of the climate crisis. We consider how critical social scientists might contribute to debates over the potential of central banks to act as ‘climate governors of last resort’.