According to Giesecke+Devrient, the sustainability revolution has accelerated to embrace an ever-growing range of environmental and social issues.

The decade-defining global pandemic, climate-driven disasters and economic disruptions have all had a profound impact on our personal, professional and social lives.

In Russia and in Ukraine people have turned to cash, with large queues at bank branches and ATMs. The National Bank of Ukraine enacted a temporary cash withdrawal limit of 100,000 Ukrainian hryvnia per day — the equivalent of about $3,339 – and both countries have imposed capital controls.

The Royal Mint has announced a partnership with Quintet Private Bank to introduce the use of recycled gold in an exchange-traded commodity (ETC).

The Swiss National Bank has conducted a Life Cycle Analysis on its 9th series of banknotes. The study looked only at those elements of the life cycle directly under the control of the SNB, the manufacture, wholesale distribution and disposal of notes.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipians, the Central Bank of Costa Rica, the East Caribbean Central Bank and De La Rue were winners in four of the Central Banking Awards 2022, presented annually by the Central Banking Journal and which number over 30 categories.

The switch from paper to polymer banknotes in the Caribbean is gathering speed, with two countries announcing in March that they will be making the change.

Amongst the sector of the cash community involved in cash handling technology, Glory has led the way in teller automation and recycling systems, and although headquartered in Asia (Japan), has a global footprint.

Ulster Bank, one of Northern Ireland’s three note issuing banks, has unveiled the design of its new vertically-orientated £50, which is inspired by the women of the province and is being printed on polymer.

One of the major challenges facing every business today is to operate sustainably. But it’s not enough simply to have a stack of policies, fine words, and good intentions to hand. Actions need to demonstrate that the policies are being put into action.

When handling cash, we normally glance at each banknote for less than a second. Central banks and banknote issuers are coming to realise that this brief glimpse provides a crucial opportunity for public authentication.

The Reserve Bank of Fiji has issued a commemorative $7 banknote to celebrate the achievements of its Rugby 7s teams at the Tokyo Olympics, where the men’s and women’s teams picked up a gold and a bronze medal respectively.

De La Rue has recently submitted targets to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, consistent with limiting global temperature increases to no more than 1.5°C.

As has been well documented, sensational and alarmist claims in the media at the outset of the pandemic that handling cash transfers COVID has done long term and potentially irreparable damage to public confidence.

After two years of COVID inflicted disruptions, Reconnaissance International was able to restart the acclaimed series of High Security Printing Conferences with a fiesta feel in Mexico City.

The Reserve Bank of India has opened a new security ink manufacturing unit, VARNIKA, which will be operated by its subsidiary Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited in Mysore.

Following on from the successful trio of Banknote Conference, Currency Conference and Digital Currency Conference in February, Currency Research is preparing for their next in-person event, the EMEA Cash Cycle Seminar.

KURZ has been a pioneer in the use of diffractive optical anti-counterfeit features on banknotes since its earliest developments on the Australian dollar and the Austrian shilling. Its acquisition of OVD Kinegram (OVDK) in 1999 added proprietary optical features to its existing strengths in materials technology.

In 2019, the Central Bank of the Bahamas issued the $50 banknote in its new CRISP Evolution series, which used Durasafe® substrate from Landqart and included a RAPID® windowed thread from Crane Currency.

Meta Materials Inc, a developer of high-performance functional materials and nanocomposites and new owner of Nanotech Security, previewed a new technology from its security products business – KolourOptik® Stripe – at the Banknote & Currency Conference.