Road to COP26: Taking on Climate Change With Infrastructure for Tomorrow In January 2016, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank started operations as the first new multilateral development bank (MDB) of the 21st century. Five years on, the bank has evolved from “a new kid on the block” to a thriving international financial institution. We have strong multilateral governance, an AAA credit rating, and we maintain high international standards in our rapidly growing project portfolio. We have over $22 billion of approved loans and investments in 108 projects across 28 members. As chief secretary to the United Kingdom Treasury from 2010-2015 — and part of the ‘quad’ of senior ministers that led the government at that time — I was at the heart of the U.K.’s decision to join the new bank. And so, I was greatly honored 5 years ago to take up office as vice-president and corporate secretary of the AIIB.