US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and several Group of 20 (G20) finance ministers have commended further progress made by the Investor Leadership Network (ILN) and the Bellagio Private Capital Mobilisation Consortium towards increasing institutional investment into emerging markets (EMs). Under the Emerging Markets Transition Debt (EMTD) initiative, investors have committed to invest US$400 million into EMs’ energy transition, with a focus on three areas: clean infrastructure, technology, and decarbonisation. Contributing ILN members include Ninety One, CDPQ, and OMERS. The initiative’s approach is consistent with the goals of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) – launched by US President Joe Biden and Group of 7 leaders in 2022. “Since the start of the Biden-[US Vice President] Harris administration, [the US] Treasury has been actively pursuing work to promote economic growth, stability, and resilience in countries around the world, including by equipping countries to accelerate their energy transitions and realise their climate ambitions,” said Yellen. “As part of the PGII, we have been engaging with investors like those in the ILN to find ways to increase institutional investors’ climate- and development-aligned investment in [EMs].” Meanwhile, the Bellagio Consortium was founded in Paris as a partnership between the US Treasury and the ILN – with support from the Rockefeller Foundation – to also help funnel institutional capital flows into EMs over the coming years. Significant progress has been made since launch in 2023, according to Yellen. At COP28, the consortium and the ILN announced a key partnership with the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to provide US$100 million for projects in key markets. “Institutional investors have a leadership role to play in the transition and finance opportunities like the EMTD fund can provide a solution by focusing on private sector investments,” said Marc-André Blanchard, ILN Co-chair, and Global Head of Sustainability at CDPQ.
