Ulrich Volz

Ulrich Volz is Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Sustainable Finance at SOAS, University of London. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the German Development Institute, a Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Honorary Professor of Economics at the University of Leipzig. Ulrich is a director of the Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investment and serves on the advisory panel of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) and the advisory committee for the Climate/SDGs Debt Swap Mechanism of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. He is a member of the CEPR Sustainable Finance Research and Policy Network, the NGFS-INSPIRE Study Group on Biodiversity and Financial Stability, and the World Bank’s Green Recovery Monitoring and Evaluation Technical Working Group.
Background
At SOAS, Ulrich previously served as Head of the Department of Economics and Member of the University’s Executive Board. Ulrich was Banque de France Chair at EHESS in Paris, and also taught at Peking University, Kobe University, Hertie School of Governance, Freie Universität Berlin, Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, and the Institute of Developing Economies in Tokyo. He spent stints working at the European Central Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and held visiting positions at the University of Oxford, University of Birmingham, ECB, Bank Indonesia, and Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo. Ulrich was part of the UN Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System and has acted as an advisor to several governments, central banks, international organisations and development agencies on matters of macroeconomic policy, sustainable finance and development.
Research interests
- Sustainable finance and investment
- Strengthening macrofinancial resilience to climate and environmental change
- Central banking and monetary economics
- Financial market development and stability
- International finance
Research
Research - 2024
The article outlines steps towards incorporating transition plans into prudential policy, thereby enabling supervisors to effectively use transition plans as a forward-looking instrument to better manage and overcome some of the challenges associated with climate transition risks. Read more

Research - 2023
This editorial provides a commentary and overview of ten articles within this special issue of Climate Policy on ‘Green Finance in Asia’. Read more

Research - 2022
This book chapter discusses the role that central banks and financial supervisors (CBFSs) can play in scaling up sustainable finance and investment. Read more

This book chapter highlights the opportunities as well as the risks of digital finance in mobilising capital to support sustainable development in emerging markets. Read more

Research - 2021
This article investigates the use of one specific monetary policy tool, namely window guidance, by the Peoples’ Bank of China (PBC) and the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) to encourage financial institutions to expand credit to sustainable activities and curb lending to heavy-polluting industries. Read more

Investigating the use of the green monetary policy tool ‘window guidance’ in China, the authors draw lessons for the design of green finance policies for other countries that seek to enhance sustainable finance and mitigate climate change and related risks. Read more

This article examines how addressing climate-related risks and supporting mitigation and adaptation policies fit into central bank mandates. We conduct... Read more

Policy
Policy - 2023
This paper shows that, through an integrated inclusive green finance (IGF) approach, central banks and financial supervisors can enable banks and supervisors to foster a just transition to an environmentally sustainable economy and avoid potential adverse effects on economically vulnerable groups. Read more

Policy - 2022
The impacts of biodiversity loss call for urgent and transformative changes to economic and financial systems. This paper discusses the need to extend the scope of central banks’ approach to the environmental crisis. Read more

Net zero transition plans can provide an additional dynamic instrument for financial supervisors to assess and address financial risks. This report provides steps towards incorporating transition plans into prudential supervision. Read more

This policy brief (produced for the T20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia) highlights the potential of digital solutions and presents six proposals to enhance digital technologies with implications for the Group of 20 (G20) central banks and supervisors. Read more

Policy - 2021
This policy report sets out why central banks in the EU need to adopt net-zero strategies, and provides seven concrete recommendations for how they can. Read more

This report examines the role that central banks and financial supervisors could play in supporting the transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, providing recommendations for action across seven areas of central bank and supervisory practice. Read more

Policy - 2020
A toolbox for central banks and financial supervisors of options to align their COVID-19 crisis response measures with climate and sustainability objectives and mitigate potential sustainability risks, updated with new analysis. Read more

Books
Books - 2022
This book chapter discusses the role that central banks and financial supervisors (CBFSs) can play in scaling up sustainable finance and investment. Read more

This book chapter highlights the opportunities as well as the risks of digital finance in mobilising capital to support sustainable development in emerging markets. Read more

News
News - 2023
Ulrich Volz and Peter Knaack explain how well-designed inclusive green finance policies could drive a virtuous cycle of growing resilience and a just transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy, reducing the financial exclusion experienced by vulnerable groups like micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Read more

News - 2021
How can we decarbonise international finance to deliver net-zero central banking? Nick Robins, Simon Dikau and Ulrich Volz present a roadmap for greening global finance. Read more
