Placing climate action at top of development agenda crucial: ADB president
"The most alarming challenge facing our region is the worsening impact of climate change," Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa said
Placing climate action at the top of the development agenda is crucial, said Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa today.
"The Asian Development Bank, and other multilateral development banks, have a critical role to play. They should be leaders in mobilising financing and expertise for climate action. ADB recognises that it must do more with the substantial resources that we manage. Placing climate action at the top of the development agenda is crucial," Asakawa said during his opening statement at the 56th ADB Annual Meeting Press Conference at Incheon, South Korea on Tuesday (2 April).
He also said the worsening impact of climate change is the most alarming challenge the Asian region is facing.
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"In recent years, war, disease, and economic hardship have taken a terrible toll on human welfare. The most alarming challenge facing our region is the worsening impact of climate change. This threatens the existence of countless species, including our own," he added.
Asakawa said ADB recognises that it must do more with the substantial resources that can be managed.
He said the global battle against climate change will be won or lost in Asia and the Pacific.
"Since 2000, more than 40% of climate-related disasters occurred in Asia and the Pacific. Over 3.5 billion people have been affected, with close to one million deaths. By 2050, another 1 billion people living in urban areas in our region will suffer from harmful air pollution and heat stress," the ADB president said.
He said the developing member countries of the ADB have experienced physical losses worth billions of dollars due to climate-related events.
In 2020 alone, the region faced a disaster loss of $67 billion.
"If we don't act, the increase in annual losses will outpace the region's GDP growth," he further said.
Stating the ADB is taking bold climate action, he said, "We aim to deliver $100 billion in climate finance to our developing member countries between 2019 and 2030. We will fully align all our operations with the Paris Agreement by no later than 2025. We will expand our investments in renewable energy options, and we will not invest in coal."
The ADB chief announced another major step in our climate action agenda.
"We are launching a new programme that will dramatically expand our capacity to respond to climate change. This new programme is called IF-CAP: the Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific. IF-CAP is a global first in its scale and scope. It will transform climate finance in two ways," he added.
He reiterated his gratitude to the Republic of Korea for hosting the annual meetings this year, and for its unique contribution to IF-CAP: Korea is the only non-Annex I country under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to serve as a founding partner of IF-CAP.
