South Africa Urged to Factor Climate Risk Into Monetary Policy

 

Extreme weather events such as severe drought and flooding have become increasingly commonplace in South Africa and led to significant damage, underscoring the urgency for the government to respond.

Photographer: Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg

South Africa’s central bank urgently needs to adopt a more flexible monetary-policy framework that incorporates climate-risk considerations, new research shows.

“Traditional monetary policy tools might be insufficient or less effective if climate risks are not integrated into the decision-making process,” authors Admire Chirume, James Hurungo and Brandon Chinoperekweyi, wrote in a study published by the South African Reserve Bank on Thursday.