New Zealand's Reserve Bank is joining central banks of South Pacific islands to mitigate the impact of climate change on financial systems.
People of Kiritimati coral atoll building a stone seawall to struggle against sea level rise cause by global warming. Photo: AFP
The effort will involve the Network for Greening the Financial System, an international group of central banks co-ordinating work on climate change and fostering investment in green technology.
The Reserve Bank and eight other central banks in Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga and Vanuatu have also started a project to find ways to boost access to cheaper capital flows.
Pacific island nations already face rising sea levels and more frequent storms, sparking fears of economic damage and worsening food and water shortages from natural catastrophes.