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Development bank chiefs insist that climate change and women's empowerment must be given priority.

The heads of the two largest MDBs from Asia and Europe said that they need to focus more on climate action, and empowering women. They are being urged to be bolder and more inclusive.

Nadia Calvino and Jin Liqung are the presidents of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), respectively. They spoke at the United Nations Development Financing Summit, which takes place every decade in Seville.

The event has been overshadowed both by criticisms that it showed a lacklustre ambition, and by the United States' absence. They were the largest international donor of aid before Donald Trump took office in the United States at the beginning of this year.

Trump also pulled the United States out of U.N. efforts against climate change, and tried to revert policy on inclusivity. This has made many companies and organizations around the world hesitant to champion diversity and sustainability.

Jin, AIIB's Jin, welcomed the civil society's call for MDBs do more about climate change as "positive force for greater impact and innovation".

He said that the AIIB supports "climate resilient" infrastructures under a broad definition, which includes digital, education, health and health infrastructure.

Calvino, of the EIB, said that high-level climate pledges must be translated into concrete investments and projects. He cited as an example a project for climate-related clauses in debt agreements which allows countries vulnerable to disasters to suspend repayments.

In the pre-summit agreement, U.N. member states pledged to triple multilateral loan capacity. The U.S. claimed that this crossed one of their red lines, as it interfered in the MDBs independence.

Jin suggested that rating agencies use different standards for MDBs than those used by commercial banks or private companies.

Calvino said that the current system was working well. The EIB's rating of AAA enabled it to make higher-risk investments, and leverage EU guarantee.

The U.S. objected also to the use the word gender in this document, saying that it did not support the "sex-based preference".

Calvino, EIB’s first female president, stated that empowering women is "both the right choice and economically smart... no brainer".

Jin said that the AIIB was putting a lot of emphasis on female empowerment. He cited a project in Ivory Coast which connected female farmers in isolated villages with main markets for selling products like cashews or coffee beans. (Reporting and editing by Aislinn Laing, Barbara Lewis, and David Latona)

(source: Reuters)