The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will double its annual climate financing to $6 billion by 2020, up from the current $3 billion.
The ADB’s spending on tackling climate change will rise to around 30 percent of its overall financing by the end of this decade.
The announcement to double the financing was made by ADB President Takehiko Nakao against the backdrop of a promise by developed countries to mobilize $100 billion every year from 2020 to counter climate change in developing countries, according to press statement of the bank.
Out of the $6 billion, $4 billion will be dedicated to mitigation through scaling up support for renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transport, and building smart cities. $2 billion will be for adaptation through more resilient infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture, and better preparation for climate-related disasters.
The ADB’s doubling of climate finance reflects its strategic priorities as well as the increase in ADB’s overall financing capacity by up to 50 percent due to a more efficient use of its balance sheet by combining the equities of its ordinary capital resources and Asian Development Fund (concessional finance window) in 2017.
Overall 17 historic sustainable development goals (SDGs) have been targeted by world leaders to be achieved by 2030 and SDG 13 specifically calls for urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
