ADB meets commitment to double annual climate financing to $6 billion

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Monday it has achieved a key commitment to double its annual climate investments from three billion dollars in 2014, hitting a record high of more than six billion dollars in climate-related financing during 2019.

ADB was the first multilateral development bank to make a climate financing commitment at the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Summit in September 2015 and has now reached its target commitment one year ahead of time.

The milestone was reached with the approval of projects covering agriculture improvement in Cambodia and urban livability and climate-resilience in China. ADB's climate-related financing for 2019 comprises 1.4 billion dollars for financing adaptation and 4.8 billion dollars for mitigating climate change.

ADB's six billion dollar climate financing milestone coincides with the 25th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP25) at Madrid in Spain.

The international community is expected to urgently identify actions for putting the Paris Agreement commitments into operation, as well as building support for more ambitious national climate action plans, which will be submitted in 2020.

"Leading climate representatives gathering in Madrid should commit to increasing climate action. At ADB, we are ready to step up as the climate bank for Asia and the Pacific -- in terms of both financing and technical assistance," said ADB President Takehiko Nakao.

"Financing climate solutions in the region is critical to economic development, reducing poverty and saving lives. ADB has achieved many firsts in recent years on climate actions and will continue supporting its developing member countries to address the pre-eminent challenge of this century," he said in a statement.

ADB's Strategy 2030 highlights the importance of tackling climate change, building climate and disaster resilience, and enhancing environmental sustainability. It has further strengthened its climate targets to ensure that at least 75 per cent of its operations focus on climate adaptation and mitigation efforts while providing 80 billion dollars in cumulative climate financing by 2030.

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