Fighting climate change would bolster economic growth in the region and across the globe said US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen while she visited the mouth of the Amazon River, Bloomberg mentioned.

After a meeting with finance ministers from the Amazon region, Yellen stated that the shift required to lower carbon emissions is “the single greatest economic opportunity of the 21st century,”

The investment that demands – an annual USD 3 trillion through 2050, Yellen said – “can be leveraged to support pathways to sustainable and inclusive growth, including for countries that have historically received less investment.”

The event was organised by the Inter-American Development Bank as part of its Amazonia Forever initiative that seeks to support carbon reduction, wildlife protection and biodiversity while protecting jobs and economic activity across eight South American countries.

The World Bank and its regional counterparts have traditionally concentrated on single-country development efforts. The initiative is also part of a shift pushed by Yellen at global development banks to take on multi-country projects.

Yellen initiated the launch of the Amazon Region Initiative Against Illicit Finance, a program aimed a disrupting the financing of criminal activity that causes environmental or wildlife damage in the region.

The biodiversity-rich Amazon region has seen a breathtaking pace of deforestation for plantation and agricultural expansion, threatening its capacity to absorb carbon dioxide, which is most responsible for global warming that leads to climate change.

United Nations’ annual conference on climate in 2025, known as COP30 is scheduled to be hosted by Belem.