Karen Fang

Karen Fang has been instrumental in shaping Bank of America’s industry-leading goal of mobilizing $1.5 trillion in sustainable finance capital by the end of the decade, of which $560 billion has been deployed in just three years. Under her leadership, the bank has emerged as a broker for renewable energy tax credits, providing a new financial pathway for scaling up clean energy projects. At the end of 2023 Bank of America arranged the financing for the construction of the SunZia Wind and Transmission project, the largest clean energy infrastructure project in U.S. history.

What is the single most important action you think the public, or a specific company or government (other than your own), needs to take in the next year to advance the climate agenda?

I think globally we need to further improve fact-based understanding of interconnectivity between climate, health, nature, economic development, and job growth. This requires the willingness to understand the true impact on human health and nature/biodiversity from increasing severity of climate events, as well as the opportunity of sustainable and resilient growth and energy transition to create jobs and economic development for all. At the heart of it, the climate transition is a human story and we need to be telling that story better to inspire full-scale, global actions. Climate transition isn’t a long-term project. Tangible actions are necessary now.  

What is a climate solution (other than your own) that isn't getting the attention or funding it deserves?

Global climate finance reached $1.8 trillion in 2023, growing at a healthy compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25% from 6-7 years ago. However, most of the funding is going into mature low-carbon technologies (like wind, solar, batteries, electric vehicles, transmission, and grids) in developed countries and China. Despite the Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S. and the European Green Deal, we still see promising new technologies (like long-duration energy storage, carbon capture and sequestration, waste to energy, and e-fuels) not getting enough funding. Emerging markets, which face budgetary constraints, rising interest rates, and inflation, find themselves unable to cope with the green premium required to transition. I have personally spent a lot of time leading various global task forces and efforts for the United Nations, Business 20 for Brazil’s G20, and the Rockefeller Foundation’s Climate Advisory Council to advance blended finance solutions that increase the funding to emerging economies and innovative technologies with de-risking partners, but we can and need to do much more here.

If you could stand up and talk to world leaders at the next U.N. climate conference, what would you say?

Climate change has had a tremendous impact on our health, nature, biodiversity, and communities. In a world where geopolitical and macroeconomic pressures constrain government budgets and consumer spending, it is easy to doubt the practicality of a global transition to a lower carbon world.  The cost – known as the green premium – is still high, and we require policy transparency and stability, in both incentives and legislation to catalyze more investments in emerging decarbonization technologies and emerging markets for a just and equitable transition. In the long-term, a sustainable and more resilient world will present real opportunities for job growth and economic development, where direct human impacts can also be alleviated, and the vitality of nature and communities can be preserved. In addition to carbon emission mitigation efforts, I am hopeful that governments can use more foreign aid and subsidies towards crowding in more resilience and adaptation financing from the private sector. Prevention is cheaper than treatment, and the cost of investing in climate-resilient infrastructure should be less than the cost of disaster relief.  With the public and private sector working together, we can tackle each risk factor and identify the most efficient way to unlock more capital to address this global challenge.