Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde wrapped up a week of international events focused on fighting climate change by renewing their calls to financial institutions and investors to mobilize private capital in the effort.
"We obviously need a massive amount of private investment to green the global economy," Ms. Yellen said Friday during a virtual panel session on climate change and capital markets organized by Bloomberg LP.
Ms. Yellen also repeated her pledge that the Treasury and other regulatory bodies will help private institutions identify climate-related risks and opportunities by taking steps to improve financial reporting and increasing the reliability of climate-related disclosures.
"There's a shortage of the type of information that private investors need to calculate returns," she said. "Governments need to make sure the information that's needed is available."
Ms. Yellen said she intends to use the Financial Stability Oversight Council, a cross-agency body of regulators that she chairs, toward that end.
Ms. Lagarde applauded an initiative announced by the European Commission earlier this week involving a first set of criteria for green investment. The classification system will allow producers of rechargeable batteries, energy efficiency equipment, low-emission cars and wind and solar power plants to earn a formal green label.
There are risks, however, with leading the way on such initiatives, Ms. Lagarde noted.
