U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated on Saturday that $3 trillion in new capital is required each year to effectively combat climate change. Yellen emphasized that the global transition to a low-carbon economy represents the “single greatest opportunity of the 21st century.”
Speaking in Belém, Brazil, after meeting with G20 finance ministers, Yellen highlighted the urgent need for robust climate finance policies extending through 2050. These policies aim to mitigate the “existential threat” posed by climate change to both communities and economies worldwide.
“Neglecting to address climate change and the loss of nature and biodiversity is not just bad environmental policy. It is also bad economic policy,” Yellen remarked. Her speech, delivered during an event hosted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the IDB’s Amazonia Forever program, which celebrated its first anniversary. The program focuses on promoting sustainable development in the Amazon region and combating deforestation.
Yellen called for greater coordination between the U.S. and countries such as Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador. She stressed the importance of catalyzing investment in agriculture and infrastructure projects to achieve global climate and economic objectives.
Earlier on Saturday, Yellen introduced the Amazon Region Initiative Against Illicit Finance. This program targets the financial networks behind illegal activities like logging and mining, which threaten biodiversity and local communities in the Amazon. “Nature crimes generate hundreds of billions of dollars of illicit revenue while harming local communities and threatening critical ecosystems,” Yellen said. “These crimes fuel corruption and destabilization wherever they occur.”
Yellen highlighted the significant role the Treasury Department is playing in supporting the U.S.’s transition to net zero emissions, a priority for the Biden administration. She credited the Inflation Reduction Act for driving substantial investments in clean energy technologies.
“Our ambitions at home match our ambitions abroad,” she asserted, underlining the global and domestic commitments of the U.S. in addressing climate change.
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