In her remarks at a climate finance roundtable, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen emphasized the leading role China and the U.S. must play in climate efforts. | Pool photo by Mark SchiefelbeinTreasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged global financial cooperation on climate change Saturday, calling on China to contribute to international development funds during her visit to Beijing.
In her remarks at a climate finance roundtable, Yellen emphasized the leading role China and the U.S. must play in climate efforts. She also drew parallels between the U.S. and China as the two largest economies, greenhouse gas emitters and investors in renewable energy globally. “Climate finance should be targeted efficiently and effectively,” Yellen said. “I believe that if China were to support existing multilateral climate institutions like the Green Climate Fund and the Climate Investment Funds alongside us and other donor governments, we could have a greater impact than we do today.”
Both funds listed by Yellen are geared toward countering climate change in developing nations. China has been reluctant to contribute to these funds in the past, claiming that it is also a developing nation. Yellen also discussed the importance of broad transitions toward the goal of net-zero carbon emissions, including in the private sector. She suggested that the U.S. and China increase and improve their investments in reducing climate change “in ways that are interoperable to our different systems.”