Janet Yellen says reducing carbon emissions is ‘biggest economic opportunity’
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen traveled to the river on Saturday Amazon River, which puts forward the idea that fighting climate change will boost economic growth regionally and globally.
The change needed to reduce carbon emissions is “the greatest economic opportunity of the 21st century,” Yellen said in a speech in Belem, Brazil, after a meeting with Amazonian finance ministers.
Yellen said the investment required — $3 trillion annually through 2050 — “can be used to support pathways to sustainable and inclusive growth, including in countries that have historically received less investment.”
The event is organized by the Inter-American Development Bank as part of the Amazonia Forever initiative to help reduce carbon emissions, protect wildlife and biodiversity while protecting jobs and economic activity across eight South American countries.
The initiative is also part of a shift Yellen has pushed at global development banks to focus on multi-country projects. The World Bank and its regional partners have traditionally focused on development efforts at single countries.
Earlier on Saturday, Yellen announced the launch of the Amazon Regional Initiative to Combat Illicit Finance, a program aimed at stopping the financing of criminal activities that cause environmental or wildlife damage in the region.
The Amazon region has seen alarming levels of deforestation due to agricultural expansion and logging, threaten its ability to absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.
Belem, known as the gateway to the Amazon, is scheduled to host the annual United Nations climate conference in 2025, known as COP30.
