"The ECB handles powerful tools that fail to account for environmental risk" (C. Murphy, Reclaim Finance)

"The European Central Bank has very powerful monetary policy tools at its disposal. However, it is not making sufficient use of them in its supervision of the banking system, given the risks that fossil fuels pose to biodiversity,” Clarisse Murphy, central banks campaigner at Reclaim Finance, told News Tank on 9 September 2026.

She was speaking to mark the publication of the NGO’s new study, entitled “Fueling Extinction: Why the ECB must act on the biodiversity risks of fossil fuels”, released on 8 September.

Clarisse Murphy identifies a “striking paradox” in the ECB’s operations, as it recognises that the integrity of ecosystems is essential to price stability and the stability of the financial system. “Yet it does not take sufficient account of its own impact on biodiversity, via its influence on financial markets and banks.”

At this stage, she laments that its supervision of banks remains “very non-prescriptive” in the face of risks, particularly environmental and climate-related ones. “It must clearly tell banks to stop supporting fossil fuel activities, which jeopardise the…