The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced that it had raised its climate financing targets for developing member countries to $100 billion from $80 billion for 2019- 2030.

The expanded climate finance ambition is key to ADB’s efforts to support its developing member countries. ADB said many of these countries were taking bold action to promote a green and inclusive recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and climate crisis.

The bank expects the total climate financing from its resources in 2019-2021 to reach about $17 billion.

In 2018, ADB said it would ensure at least 75% of its overall operations to support climate action with the financing of $80 billion by 2030.

The additional $20 billion will support the climate agenda in new avenues for climate mitigation, including energy storage, low-carbon transport, and energy efficiency. The bank’s cumulative climate mitigation finance is expected to reach $66 billion.

The additional financing will also be used to scale up and design projects, in climate-sensitive sectors like urban, agriculture, and water, with the purpose of climate adaption and enhanced resilience. The bank expects its cumulative adaptation finance to reach $34 billion.

ADB is expected to support private sector initiatives with $12 billion in climate finance from its resources and anticipates crowdfunding of an additional $18 billion to $30 billion.

Mercom had reported that ADB would discontinue financing any new coal-fired capacity for power and heat generation or any facilities associated with new coal generation. The bank also indicated that it would support developing member countries to mitigate the health and environmental impact of existing coal-fired power plants and district heating systems by financing emission control technologies.

In December 2020, ADB approved a loan of $190 million (~₹13.9 billion) to upgrade the power distribution system in Bangalore for its ‘Bengaluru Smart Energy Efficient Power Distribution’ project.

In the same month, ADB also approved a $430 million multi-tranche financing facility to improve the power supply reliability and quality in Uttar Pradesh.

Harsh Shukla is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Previously with Indian Express, he has covered general interest stories. He holds a Masters Degree in Journalism from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune.

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