New Delhi: The ADB on Wednesday announced it is elevating its ambition to deliver climate financing to its developing member countries (DMCs) to $100 billion from 2019-2030.
In 2018, the Manila headquartered multilateral lending agency committed to ensuring at least 75 per cent of the total number of its operations support climate action and its own climate finance resources reach at least a cumulative $80 billion by 2030.
"Today's announcement elevates the ambition of this financing," the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a statement.
ADB expects the cumulative climate financing from its own resources in 2019 2021 to reach about $17 billion.
The battle against climate change will be won or lost in Asia and the Pacific, said ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa.
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," he said.
As per the statement, the expanded climate finance ambition is a key element of ADB's efforts to support its DMCs. Facing the interconnected challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and the climate crisis, many DMCs are taking bold action to promote a green, resilient, and inclusive recovery.
The additional $20 billion will provide support for the climate agenda in five main areas, including, new avenues for climate mitigation, including energy storage, energy efficiency, and low-carbon transport; a scale-up of transformative adaptation projects; and an increase in climate finance in ADB's private sector operations.
Across these areas, ADB will continue to expand access to new, climate-focused technologies and mobilise private capital toward climate finance, the multilateral lending agency said.
Established in 1966, ADB is owned by 68 members 49 from the region.