I would like to express my gratitude to both IFC and the government of Japan for joining us in organizing this important event. Ladies and Gentlemen, I was part of the recently concluded IMF-World Bank annual meetings held in Washington DC and one of the spotlight discussions was regarding the threats of climate change to financial stability.
A key takeaway from these sessions was the increased realization that climate change is a global issue, which urgently requires a coordinated global response. The World Bank has established a new fund, namely "Scaling Climate Action by Lowering Emissions" for developing countries, which was launched yesterday at the COP27 event in Egypt.