Asian Development Bank’s U$100bn green financing pledge

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has plans to provide US$100 billion in climate financing to its developing member countries (DMCs) between 2019 and 2030. “The battle against climate change will be won or lost in Asia and the Pacific,” ADB president Masatsugu Asakawa noted.

“The climate crisis is worsening daily, prompting many to call for increased climate finance. We are taking action to meet this call by elevating our ambition to $100 billion in cumulative climate finance from our own resources by 2030.”

Starting 2018, ADB began demonstrating its commitment towards ensuring that about 75% of the total volume of its operations  provide direct support to climate action. The lender also plans to expand its own climate finance facilities available through 2030 to a total of US$80 billion.

The announcement on Wednesday revealed the strength of ADB’s commitment to the vision of this financing plan. The lender also expects cumulative climate financing from its own facilities for 2019–2021 to reach about US$17 billion. 

The additional US$20 billion will provide backing to the climate agenda in five key areas that involve coming up with new avenues for climate mitigation, including energy storage, energy efficiency, and low-carbon transport. ADB says its cumulative climate mitigation finance is on course to hit US$66 billion.

Projects in climate-sensitive sectors including urban, agriculture and water, will be structure with effective climate adaptation and enhanced resilience as a driving factor and a key priority.

ADB also plans to reach its ambitious goal by accelerating climate finance in its private sector partnership operations. ADB plans to support these initiatives with US$12 billion in cumulative private sector climate finance. The lender also plans to source an additional US$18 billion, bringing the total investment in these initiatives to US$30 billion.