ADB pledges to double annual climate financing to $6b

Two thirds of the total will go towards mitigation through scaling up support for renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transport, and building smart cities. The remaining third will be used for adaptation, developing resilient infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture, and better preparation for climate-related disasters.

The ADB also championed the need for co-financing with public and private sector partners. This includes tapping the Green Climate Fund - set up in 2010 under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to serve as a central global investment vehicle for climate finance - as well as private equity funds.

While the ADB has in the past relied on third-party fund managers, last year it formed Asia Climate Partners in conjunction with Japan's Orix Corp. and Netherland-based Robeco Institutional Asset Management. The fund received initial capital commitments of $400 million from the founding partners and has since been backed by other groups, with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ recently putting in $30 million.

ADB will also issue more green bonds as an important source of funding for its climate operations.

By the end of the decade, ADB's spending on tackling climate change will account for 30% of its overall financing. The move comes as participants in the UN Sustainable Development Summit held in New York over the weekend adopted a new sustainability blueprint composed of 17 goals and 169 targets to wipe out poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate over the next 15 years.

This includes the implementation of a commitment made by developed country signatories to the UNFCCC to mobilize $100 billion every year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries in mitigating climate change. Part of this commitment involves bringing the Green Climate Fund into full operation.

Speaking ahead of the summit, ADB President Takehiko Nakao said in a statement: "World leaders gathering in New York this weekend will commit to achieving 17 historic Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and ADB stands ready to be an important part of global efforts to finance these goals.

"Nowhere is tackling climate change more critical than in Asia and the Pacific, where rising sea levels, melting glaciers, and weather extremes like floods and droughts are damaging livelihoods and taking far too many lives."

Established in 1966, the ADB is owned by 67 members, 48 of them Asian. Last year, the organization provided assistance totaling $22.9 billion, including $9.2 billion in co-financing.

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