US Treasury Secretary and FATF Ministers will meet in person for the first time in three years in DC

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Ministerial Meeting in Washington, D.C., will be attended by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tomorrow, marking the first time FATF Ministers have met in person in three years.

The meetings are part of the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group's Board of Governors (WBG).

The group is expected to discuss its year's strategic priorities, which include improving beneficial ownership transparency, asset recovery, and corruption.

The Treasury Department stated that supporting the entire FATF Global Network is a "important priority for the United States," as it ensures a "robust and fair mutual evaluation process," with the Biden-Harris Administration's "key focus" on combating corruption.

"Treasury is supporting effective implementation of international financial transparency and anti-corruption standards to promote global safety and security," the body stated.

Secretary Yellen called for "hard decisions and economic investments" in expanding access to renewable energy sources yesterday.

The switch to renewable energy appears even more appealing as Europe attempts to wean itself off Russian gas.

Secretary Yellen admitted at the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action that Russia's war in Ukraine has made keeping a global warming limit of 1.5 degrees "even more challenging."

"Europe is currently focused on its plans to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels by diversifying supply chains and doubling down on clean energy investments. These efforts highlight the need for us all to take actions that safeguard our energy needs and build resilience to market volatility, " said Sec. Yellen.

"Our priority… should be on increasing deployment of energy efficiency measures while rapidly scaling up clean energy capacity," she continued.

We need to "collectively choose the future we want through public policy design and expediting investments in sustainable infrastructure," she said.

Sec. Yellen also praised the release of a new report titled "Driving Climate Action through Economic and Fiscal Policy and Practice," which emphasizes the importance for finance ministers to not "lose sight of the global needs to adapt to the impacts of an already changing climate."

As a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, certain Member States have called for tougher economic sanctions and a ban on Russian oil.

Despite the European Commission's five sanctions packages, Russian gas has not been banned, despite MEPs voting overwhelmingly in favor of additional punitive measures earlier this month, including a full embargo on Russian oil, coal, nuclear fuel, and gas imports.

By fLEXI tEAM