U.S. Treasury's Yellen tells development banks to mobilize private capital for climate fight

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the heads of the World Bank and other multilateral development banks on Thursday to come up with concrete plans to mobilize significantly more capital to fight climate change and support emission reductions goals.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the heads of the World Bank and other multilateral development banks on Thursday to come up with concrete plans to mobilize significantly more capital to fight climate change and support emission reductions goals. The Treasury said in a statement that Yellen, White House climate envoy John Kerry and the heads of the major development banks discussed ways to "maximize" private capital for climate change finance and re-evaluate the banks' internal incentives and practices toward that end.

"Secretary Yellen encouraged the MDBs to increase their focus on climate adaptation, particularly through private-sector operations, and to support developing countries in implementing ambitious emissions reduction measures and protecting critical ecosystems," the Treasury said. Yellen will reconvene the group "to discuss their concrete plans in October" on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings.

The institutions participating in the meeting were the World Bank Group, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Inter-American Development Bank.