permit auditors to help their clients with internal reconciliations and certain accounting - records - related recovery efforts. with the sec's action, many accountants and auditors quickly assisted clients in reconstructing records and information. as a result, many private firms and financial institutions were able to move to off - site locations and quickly restart operations. we applaud your efforts and those of the businesses you serve. the longer - term prospects for the u. s. economy remain sound, just as they were before september 11. our flexible markets, entrepreneurial spirit, well - educated work force, and major advances in information technology provide a sound foundation for the long - term growth of productivity, employment, and standards of living. in the medium term, consumer and business behaviors will significantly affect the way our economy progresses. policymakers have reacted vigorously to changing macroeconomic conditions. as you know, the federal open market committee has reduced its target for the federal funds rate by 150 basis points since september 11. banking supervision and accounting and disclosure the federal reserve has long supported sound accounting policies and meaningful public disclosure by banking and financial organizations with the objective of improving market discipline and fostering stable financial markets. effective market discipline can complement bank supervision and regulation. with sufficient accurate and relevant information, market participants can better evaluate counterparty risks and adjust the availability and pricing of funds to promote better allocation of financial resources. the concept of market discipline is assuming greater importance among international banking supervisors as well. the most recent proposal to amend and augment the basel capital accord, which was published in january and called basel ii, seeks to strengthen the market's ability to aid bank supervisors in regulating capital adequacy. it consists of three pillars, or tools : risk - based capital ( pillar i ), risk - based supervision ( pillar ii ), and disclosure of risks and capital adequacy to enhance market discipline ( pillar iii ). this approach to capital regulation, with its market - discipline component, signals that sound accounting and disclosure will continue to be important parts of our supervisory approach for many years to come. i understand that these efforts to enhance our capital rules will be addressed later today in a separate session, so i will not discuss them in depth. however, i would like to point out that our goal in the basel process is to develop a risk - sensitive framework that provides appropriate incentives to banking organizations to maintain strong capital positions and sound risk - management systems. the history of the 1990s, which included episodes

. it allows for considerable public support to be provided for the transformation, including support to press ahead with the energy transition. for some of you, fiscal soundness might sound boring. especially if you are keen to benefit from attractive tax deduction programmes. but please bear in mind, that debt - financed tax deduction programmes have their limits. after russia's invasion of ukraine, germany accelerated its energy transition. there was no alternative because germany has no primary fossil fuel sources of its own. so germany had to do two things : 1. increase energy efficiency and 2. increase the supply of renewable energy in germany. there is good news in this regard : wind and solar energy are competitive today. costs have dropped more than 80 %. 2 germany is the most important country for patents in the field of clean and sustainable innovation in the european union. 3 public and private r & d spending in germany exceeds 3 % of gdp, which is among the highest r & d intensities in europe. 4 as a result, we are a global leader in hydrogen patenting. 5 this matters, because german industry requires hydrogen. however, getting from scientific innovation and patents to running a business requires entrepreneurship and money. we need private investors, because public money has its limits. one of the key factors that influences investors'decisions is uncertainty. many investors fear a global backlash against climate policies. at the same time, we are seeing the share prices of oil and gas companies increase. so, please allow me to finish my intervention today by reflecting on political uncertainties, particularly on the global backlash against climate policies. to us central bankers, and hopefully not only to us, the figures describing the impacts of climate change are clear. global warming comes with a significant price tag. in many countries, we are seeing inflation go up on the back of climate change. food prices are skyrocketing due to droughts, floods or other weather events. according to a study by the ecb and the potsdam institute for climate impact research ( pik ), global food inflation could increase up to 3. 2 % annually by 2035. 6 the network of central banks and supervisors for greening the financial system ( ngfs ), which i have the privilege to chair, is going to publish a study illustrating how climate change will affect monetary policy. this study shows that extreme weather events will have a strong impact, first on the supply side, then on the demand side and finally on the financial system. 2 / 3