This document outlines the Asian Development Bank (ADB)‘s strategic interventions and initiatives to accelerate action on climate change. It details the bank’s commitment to directing its strategic vision and policies toward high-quality climate outcomes in Asia and the Pacific. This document is useful for policymakers, development practitioners, and investors seeking to understand ADB’s climate-related priorities and operational approaches. It offers insights into the bank’s plans for mobilizing finance, fostering innovation, and enhancing partnerships to support low-carbon and climate-resilient development.
Key Insights
Global and Regional Context
Global progress in poverty reduction and socioeconomic development is at risk due to climate change. Asia and the Pacific are on the frontline of the climate crisis, requiring significantly more climate finance to enhance climate resilience.
ADB Climate Commitments and Ambitions
ADB has identified several climate commitments and ambitions, including aligning with the mitigation and adaptation goals of the Paris Agreement, raising climate finance from its own resources, reaching climate adaptation finance, supporting private initiatives, and ensuring that its operations support climate change mitigation and/or adaptation.
Objectives of the ADB Climate Change Action Plan
ADB will do its part toward sustainable development and a low-carbon and climate-resilient transition in Asia and the Pacific. Constraints inhibit ADB facilitation of low-carbon and climate-resilient development in Asia and the Pacific. ADB can enhance its climate action and impact through interventions in several areas.
ADB’s Climate Shift
ADB will combine partnerships, innovative finance, and knowledge that help DMCs scale up their climate actions. The ADB will enhance and deepen current partnerships. ADB explores new financing models to expand its lending capacity and leverage resources for climate finance.
Upscaling ADB Climate Investment and its Impact
ADB will prioritize climate action in its core support for regional and global public goods. The implications on resource availability of providing more concessional financing from ADB’s own resources will be carefully considered, to ensure that scarce concessional resources are directed to low-income countries and public goods.
ADB’s Internal Knowledge Management and Research
Knowledge management, capacity development, and research are pivotal to advancing an inherently complex and urgent ADB climate agenda. ADB will enhance its management of data, information, and knowledge and will generate knowledge solutions for climate change.
ADB engagement with DMC national governments
ADB engagement with DMC national governments is central to its climate work. A fully integrated package on climate change combines sovereign and nonsovereign solutions. ADB will approach each DMC differently.
ADB will offer upstream, midstream, and downstream support for comprehensive climate change solutions at the country level
Upstream: Strategic Engagement for Enhanced Policy Frameworks, Midstream: Embedding Climate Action in Core Institutions and National Systems, Downstream: High-Quality Operations and Implementation.
Key Statistics & Data
- ADB aims to provide $100 billion for climate action from 2019–2030.
- The region annual losses are estimated at $675 billion.
- Current nationally determined contribution commitments and GHG trajectories are projected to bring a 16% increase in emissions in Asia and the Pacific from 2010 to 2030.
- Asia and the Pacific will need to spend an estimated $3.1 trillion annually on physical energy and transport assets to achieve net zero.
Methodology
This document outlines ADB’s strategic interventions and initiatives to spearhead climate action. This document is based on extensive consultation with ADB staff, Management, and the Board of Directors, and in discussions with ADB member countries and civil society organizations.
Implications and Conclusions
The Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) has implications for everyone in ADB. As an organization, ADB must walk the talk by shrinking its own carbon footprint and by ensuring that each part of ADB is working out how it can drive climate action. Actions listed in the CCAP will be regularly updated to ensure quality and relevance.
Key Points
- ADB aims to provide $100 billion of its own funds, across public and private sector operations, to climate finance from 2019 to 2030.
- ADB will scale up its impact by catalyzing high-quality climate action through external finance, such as the Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific, the Energy Transition Mechanism, and the Climate Action Catalyst Fund.
- ADB's new operating model enables it to work more effectively across regions, sectors, and themes to deliver multidisciplinary solutions to sovereign and private sector clients.
- ADB will offer countries comprehensive climate solutions upstream, midstream, and downstream, especially for fragile and conflict-affected situations, small island developing states, and mountainous countries.
- The CCAP has implications for everyone in ADB. As an organization, ADB must walk the talk by shrinking its own carbon footprint and by ensuring that each part of ADB is working out how it can drive climate action.