Access to climate finance critical for development and recovery: ADB

The Asian Development Bank has called access to climate finance a key priority for Asia and the Pacific as governments design and implement a green and resilient recovery from the coronavirus

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has called access to climate finance a key priority for Asia and the Pacific as governments design and implement a green and resilient recovery from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa said expanding access to finance is critical if developing economies in Asia and the Pacific are to meet their Paris Agreement goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change.

"We can no longer take a business-as-usual approach to climate change. We need to put ambitious climate actions at the centre of development," he said.

"ADB is committed to supporting its developing member countries through finance, knowledge and collaboration with other development partners as they scale up climate actions and push for an ambitious outcome at COP 26 and beyond."

ADB is using a three-pronged strategy to expand access to finance for its developing members as they step up their response to the impacts of climate change.

First, ADB has an ambitious corporate target to ensure 75 per cent of the total number of its committed operations support climate change mitigation and adaptation by the end of the decade with climate finance from ADB's own resources to reach 80 billion dollars cumulatively between 2019 and 2030.

ADB has also adopted explicit climate targets under its Asian Development Fund (ADF) which provides grant financing to its poorest members. ADF 13 which covers the period of 2021-24 will support climate mitigation and adaption in 35 per cent of its operations by volume and 65 per cent of its total number of projects by 2024.

Second, ADB is enhancing support for adaptation and resilience that goes beyond climate proofing physical infrastructure to promote strong integration of ecological, social, institutional and financial aspects of resilience into ADB's investments.

Third, ADB is increasing focus on supporting the poorest and most vulnerable communities in its developing member countries by working with the United Kingdom, the Nordic Development Fund, and the Green Climate Fund on a community resilience programme to scale up the quantity and quality of climate adaptation finance in support of local climate adaptation actions.