As Prepared for Delivery
A year ago in Paris, Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen announced the launch of a new partnership, the Bellagio Private Capital Mobilization Consortium, established by the Treasury Department and the Investor Leadership Network with the aim of bringing institutional investment into emerging markets.
Today, a key achievement of the Bellagio Consortium is being celebrated: Treasury, the Investor Leadership Network Secretariat, and ILN members Ninety One, CDPQ, and OMERS are announcing the Emerging Markets Transition Debt initiative. Under this initiative, investors have committed to invest $400 million into the energy transition in emerging markets, focusing on investments in three areas: clean infrastructure, clean technology, and decarbonization.
"This new initiative advances key Treasury priorities," Yellen stated. Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, Treasury has been actively pursuing work to promote economic growth, stability, and resilience in countries around the world. This includes equipping countries to accelerate their energy transitions and realize their climate ambitions.
To support these goals, President Biden and G7 leaders launched the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI), which aims to drive investment flows into critical sectors that advance inclusive and sustainable growth while combating climate change globally. As part of PGI, engagements with investors like those in ILN have sought ways to increase institutional investors’ climate- and development-aligned investments in emerging markets—leading to this new initiative.
"For many of the investors involved," Yellen continued, "this initiative represents a significant step forward in expanding their investments in emerging markets." She noted that it demonstrates tangible progress toward increasing private capital mobilization for emerging markets with hopes for further advancements. An upcoming milestone will be later this year when South Africa assumes the G20 presidency; ILN will hold a Global Investor Forum in Cape Town for institutional investors from both the Global North and Global South to engage with each other.
"We are optimistic that all these efforts will lead an increasing number of investors to explore new opportunities in emerging markets," Yellen concluded. "Driving economic growth and dynamism." She congratulated all those involved in this effort and thanked attendees for their presence.
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