Asian Development Bank joins the Climate and Clean Air Coalition

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is the newest partner of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC).  The ADB is the fifth multilateral development bank to join the Coalition, which already has the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Nordic Environment Finance Corporation, and the European Investment Bank as partners.

In joining the Coalition the ADB said it fully endorses meaningful action to address short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) and will support the Coalition’s four principle strategies to produce political will and practical implementation capacity. “In particular the ADB is able to enhance knowledge, catalyze ambitious action, mobilize robust support, and leverage finance at scale,” the Bank said in a written statement.

The Bank also “fully supports” the Coalition’s 5-year Strategic Plan, which states that, “Substantially reducing emissions of short-lived climate pollutants is an essential component of global efforts to address climate change, improve air quality, and achieve important health, economic, and food security benefits. Over the next five years, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition will focus on catalyzing policies and practices that will deliver reductions of these pollutants at scale in the near to medium term”.

Helena Molin Valdes, Head of the UN Environment hosted CCAC Secretariat, welcomed the ADB as a partner saying that it was an important partner with a history of leveraging billions of dollars in loans and grants to implement important projects throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

“The ADB’s strategic priorities align with those of the Coalition,” Ms Molin Valdes said. “We look forward to working together to support countries in this important region to address the sources of the pollution in order to protect the climate, and improve the health, livelihoods and environment of millions of people.”

As part of its strategic agenda focusing on environmentally sustainable growth, the ADB approaches reduction of short-lived climate pollutants through several focal areas that align with the Coalition’s initiatives:

1. Air Quality Management
2. Responding to Climate Change
3. Livable Cities
4. Sustainable Transport
5. Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency
6. Investments in Natural Capital and Natural Resource Management
7. Environmental Safeguards

The ADB’s Strategy 2020 has environmentally sustainable growth as one of its three strategic agendas for Asia and the Pacific, along with inclusive economic growth and regional integration.

In 2015, lending for projects supporting environmental sustainability reached $7.06 billion, for 65 loan and grant projects. The three-year average for the number of projects supporting environmental sustainability was 57% in 2013-2015, exceeding the target of 50% set by the ADB for the second year in a row.

In 2015, the ADB also approved almost $2.7 billion in climate financing, of which $2.4 billion will go to mitigation and $0.3 billion to adaptation projects. In September 2015, the ADB announced that it will double its annual climate finance commitment from about $3 billion per year to $6 billion per year by 2020. $4 billion will go to mitigation and $2 billion to adaptation.

The ADB is a multilateral development bank dedicated to improving people’s lives in Asia and the Pacific. Since its establishment in 1966, ADB has grown to encompass 67 member countries, of which 48 are within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside. ADB is accredited with two major UN funding mechanisms dedicated to the environment and climate change agenda. The Bank is an implementing agency of the Global Environment Facility and the multilateral development bank to be accredited to the Green Climate Fund.