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June 27 (UPI) -- Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday that mitigating and responding to extreme weather events, including heat waves, as well as addressing climate change, is a key financing priority for the Treasury Department. In remarks on the impact of climate change-related extreme weather, Yellen encouraged the world's multilateral development banks to collaborate on climate financing efforts.
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"We encourage measuring the benefits of specific interventions, not just global or national outcomes, and support effectively screening all projects for cost-effective climate smart interventions and benefits," Yellen said in prepared remarks. "With 2023 marking the hottest year on record and the 10 hottest years all falling in the past decade, MDBs should especially consider tracking indicators that assess resilience and adaptation to temperature increases."
Yellen said banks need to not only watch money going out the door but also keep an eye "on the outcomes that change lives, from people protected from heat to carbon emissions reduced."
She said setting and reaching specific targets is key.
She stressed that private capital mobilization for development and climate-aligned investments must remain a top priority because public investment alone won't be enough.
Yellen emphasized the critical role of the International Development Association and the Green Climate Fund when it comes to financing climate adaptation in vulnerable countries.
"I very much look forward to continuing to advance our collective work, including through today's focus on extreme heat and resilience," Yellen said.
Yellen pointed to some specific examples of progress on mobilizing financing to deal with climate change, including the $115.9 billion she said was mobilized globally in 2022 to help developing countries address climate change.
The African Development Bank partnered with the African Union and Africa50 to establish the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa.
The Asian Development Bank, Yellen said, "committed its highest-ever level of climate finance in 2023, making significant climate investments in critical sectors, including agriculture, energy, and resilient transport-and also launched the Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific."
In Europe, she said the European Development Bank dealt with challenges associated with the energy performance of buildings while working with governments to enable higher private-sector financing for energy efficiency.
