The Croatian National Bank (HNB) will soon adopt a climate strategy and calculate its carbon footprint for the first time, that is how much its operations contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, deputy governor Sandra Svaljek said at HNB Open Day on Saturday.

The HNB will set itself the goal to reduce those emissions in the years ahead, she said during a talk on how central banks have recognised the fact that these are climate crisis times.

Thereby we are joining the central banks which wish to testify, by their own activities, to the importance of being aware that we live in a time of climate crisis and that, by our activities, we can contribute to alleviating it, Svaljek said.

The HNB has 7.5% of its assets in green bonds already and the tendency is for their share to go up, she added.

The finance industry is not a big polluter and does not generate a lot of carbon dioxide emissions, but it can contribute by its activities to make the whole economy greener, Svaljek said.

Over 1,100 citizens visited the central bank on its Open Day and some attended financial literacy workshops. Governor Boris Vujcic was also in attendance.