Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management
ADB is prioritizing climate and disaster resilience, alongside low-carbon development, in response to the growing threats facing Asia and the Pacific.
ADB is prioritizing climate and disaster resilience and low-carbon development in response to the growing threats facing Asia and the Pacific.
In the face of rapidly growing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, increasing impact from climate change and disasters, and ongoing environmental damage, ADB has placed combating climate change and its consequences at the top of its development agenda. In September 2019, the bank adopted Strategy 2030 Operational Priority 3: Tackling Climate Change, Building Climate and Disaster Resilience, and Enhancing Environmental Sustainability.
ADB aims to deliver over 100ドル billion in cumulative climate finance from its own resources between 2019 and 2030, as part of its operational priority to address climate change, enhance climate and disaster resilience, and improve environmental sustainability under its Strategy 2030. As of 2024, ADB has already committed 41ドル.9 billion toward this goal, through investments supported by its regular and concessional ordinary capital resources, as well as Asian Development Fund grant resources. In 2024 alone, ADB committed 11ドル.1 billion in climate finance from its own resources, including 1ドル.6 billion in non-sovereign financing. ADB is also working to ensure that 75% of its operations support climate change mitigation and/or adaptation on a 3-year rolling average by 2030. From 2022 to 2024, ADB has already exceeded this target, with 91% of operations contributing to climate action—surpassing the 2030 goal for the second consecutive year. In 2024, ADB also committed to climate finance reaching 50% of its total annual committed financing by 2030.
ADB is promoting a just transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient future in line with the Paris Agreement. To further embed climate action throughout its operations, ADB has released its Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP), 2023-2030. The CCAP shows how ADB will deliver on its climate finance ambitions; guides its approach to partnerships, finance, and knowledge; outlines how it will engage with developing member countries; and details how it will deliver low-carbon and climate-resilient solutions across its operations. ADB will regularly monitor and evaluate its progress in pursuing the plan.
Recognizing the increasing impact of disasters and climate change on marginalized and vulnerable countries and populations, ADB approved a Revised Disaster and Emergency Assistance Policy (DEAP) in October 2021. The 2021 DEAP will increase the impact of ADB’s support to its development member countries in strengthening resilience and responding to disasters and emergencies.
With Asia and the Pacific responsible for more than half of all global carbon emissions, the key to tackling climate change is transitioning the region to clean energy. ADB invested more than 25ドル billion in clean energy through sovereign and non-sovereign initiatives from 2008 to 2020. Mainstreaming affordable and reliable clean energy in developing Asia is critical for sustainable development and regional energy security, as well as addressing climate change. A sustainable and secure energy supply remains essential, as more than 350 million people still lack access to electricity in the region, with several countries still heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels.
Climate finance provided by MDBs reached a record high of 125ドル billion globally in 2023—more than double the ambitious 2025 climate finance targets they set in 2019, when MDBs announced their ambition to scale up climate finance. Of the total, 74ドル.7 billion was directed toward low- and middle-income economies: 50ドル billion, or 67%, supported climate change mitigation, and 24ドル.7 billion, or 33%, was for climate change adaptation. The amount of mobilized private finance for these countries stood at 28ドル.5 billion.
In 2024, multilateral development banks (MDBs) announced that their annual collective climate financing for low- and middle-income countries is projected to reach 120ドル billion by 2030. Of this amount, 42ドル billion will be allocated to climate change adaptation. In parallel, MDBs aim to mobilize 65ドル billion from the private sector to support climate action in these countries.
For the massive financing required to combat climate change, the key will be using limited public sector funds to leverage significant amounts of private capital.
Cities in Asia are growing at an unprecedented pace, with 44 million people added to urban populations every year. The resulting congestion, waste, pollution, and associated health impacts remain key challenges in sustaining urban development. ADB supports liveable, green cities through financing water supply, waste management, clean transport, urban planning, and clean energy projects. Transport is the fastest growing source of new GHG emissions in the region. Shifting transport and urban development to a greener, more sustainable model will significantly reduce climate change.
ADB helps its member countries to become more resilient to disasters by financing disaster risk management in areas such as flood control, early warning systems, nature-based solutions, integrated water resource management, resilient infrastructure, and disaster risk financing. Between January 2017 and December 2021, ADB approved 2ドル.08 billion for 32 projects that directly reduced disaster risks, improved institutional and community preparedness, and strengthened financial preparedness for disasters. A further 351 projects incorporated measures to strengthen disaster resilience in their design. Investment in disaster resilience can contribute to sustained economic growth, poverty reduction, and enhanced natural resource management. These investments have the most far-reaching effect if these are undertaken in the context of wider development and are carefully integrated into the development process. Successful investment in resilience also requires active cooperation between governments, the private sector, civil society, and the international community.
ADB is promoting disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in the region by investing in water supply, sanitation, irrigation, flood control, transport and energy infrastructure that withstands and builds resilience to disasters and climate change. Climate adaptation cost estimates for Asia and the Pacific are in the order of 40ドル billion per year between now and 2050. Investment in health and education will also improve countries’ capacity to adapt. Helping vulnerable communities and sectors cope with disasters and climate change strengthens their resilience and facilitates sustainable development. ADB is working with partners to roll out an ambitious community resilience partnership program across the region.
Through technical assistance, grants and emergency assistance loans, ADB provides timely support to help its developing member countries respond to urgent life-saving requirements, rebuild high-priority infrastructure and physical assets, and restore governance and economies following disasters and emergencies. Between January 2017 and December 2021, ADB approved 818ドル.35 million in financing for 15 post-disaster assistance projects following disasters triggered by natural hazards. ADB’s recent response to disasters in the region have included the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, an earthquake in Papua New Guinea, volcanic activities in Vanuatu and Tonga, and tropical cyclones in the Pacific. See Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund (APDRF).
ADB is committed to assisting its member countries in formulating and mainstreaming low-carbon and climate adaptation and resilience policies. ADB works to embed climate change into country programming through comprehensive geographic and sector diagnostics, integrating upstream policy and diagnostics to inform downstream investments. Enhanced project diagnostics and preparation ensure strong operational support and high-quality projects. ADB supports its DMCs in aligning their climate plans with sector policies, nationally determined contributions, national adaptation plans, and fiscal frameworks, and by developing climate mitigation and adaptation projects that translate these plans into practical operations. The Climate Risk Country Profiles, jointly developed with the World Bank, provide detailed analyses of changes in key climate parameters, and assess the impacts of these changes on communities, livelihoods, and economies. By offering user-friendly technical resources, the profiles facilitate country diagnostics, policy dialogue, and strategic planning.
ADB is committed to enhancing policy-based lending (PBL) to support green, resilient, and inclusive recovery, focusing on energy transition, climate resilience, and nature-positive reforms. This includes financing renewable energy infrastructure, leveraging private sector investments, and improving crisis response mechanisms. ADB will implement best practice guidance, expanded staff training, technical assistance, and new PBL programs aimed at climate adaptation, mitigation, and long-term resilience building. From 2022 to 2024, ADB has committed up to 18ドル billion in PBL to support these initiatives. These will support developing member countries as they undertake policy reforms and fill gaps in their development financing requirements.
ADB remains steadfast in supporting its developing member countries (DMCs) utilize carbon pricing instruments as an integral part of the broader policy architecture to help achieve their nationally determined contribution (NDC) and net-zero targets. ADB has a long-standing engagement with carbon markets, mobilizing carbon finance and providing technical and capacity-building support through the Asia Pacific Carbon Fund, Future Carbon Fund, and the Japan Fund for the Joint Crediting Mechanism. ADB has been providing technical support to enhance the capacity of its DMCs through its Technical Support Facility as well as the Article 6 Support Facility. ADB will continue to take a holistic approach to carbon pricing and markets by mobilizing carbon finance, incentivizing investments in low carbon technologies, and providing technical and capacity building support to its DMCs.
ADB is working across Asia and the Pacific to support sustainable forest management and conservation efforts, as well as agricultural land use improvements, to promote carbon conservation. Land and forests need to be conserved to provide proper livelihoods for local populations and a safe and sustainable haven for thousands of animal and plant species. ADB’s approach to land and forest management helps support local livelihoods, strengthens resilience to climate change, maintains clean water, and protects biodiversity.
ADB is supporting its DMCs to achieve, and raise, their Paris Agreement commitments while charting a fair and equitable path to net-zero—through various programs focusing on nationally determined contributions (NDCs), carbon markets, and development of sound and ambitious long-term national strategies. ADB has established a dedicated technical assistance platform - NDC Advance- to help DMCs mobilize finance and build capacity and knowledge to support the implementation of their Paris Climate Agreement pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
NDC Advance is being implemented through three separate but strategically linked subprojects with the following objectives:
ADB has committed to align its operations with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Full alignment of its sovereign operations will be achieved by 1 July 2023. Alignment of its nonsovereign operations will reach 85% by 1 July 2023 and 100% by 1 July 2025.
New ADB operations will be screened using a framework of methodologies developed jointly with other MDBs to help ensure projects are consistent with countries’ low-emissions, climate-resilient development pathways and with the overall climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience objectives of the Paris Agreement.
ADB’s commitment to align its operations with the Paris Agreement applies to all ADB-financed and/or ADB-administered sovereign and nonsovereign projects, and their components regardless of the source of financing, with the exceptions of technical assistance. To achieve this commitment, ADB is developing a set of tools, processes and resources that will help mainstreaming Paris Agreement alignment throughout the project cycle.
Just transition is the acknowledgement that while DMCs need to meet and scale-up their Paris Agreement commitments, that process could have adverse effects for various regions, sectors, and groups. ADB has joined with other MDBs in committing to a set of high-level principles to ensure a cohesive, credible, and transparent approach to just transition.
To support DMCs, ADB has undertaken preliminary research and consultations to assess and better understand just transition issues, opportunities, and challenges in our DMCs. It is also mobilizing resources to establish a just transition support platform that will enable our DMCs to embed just transition in their climate commitments, policies, and plans and to support their implementation. It is likewise working to enhance knowledge and awareness of just transition in our region and identifying and promoting innovative just transition financing approaches.
In 2024, ADB has already reached 41ドル.9 billion towards its commitment of delivering over 100ドル billion in cumulative climate finance from its own resources from 2019 to 2030, investing in its operations (including both regular and concessional ordinary capital resources, as well as Asian Development Fund grant resources). This includes 11ドル.1 billion committed in 2024, of which 1ドル.6 billion is non-sovereign financing. From 2022 to 2024, the share of ADB operations supporting climate action has already reached 91% (on a 3-year rolling average), surpassing the 2030 target of 75% for the second year in a row. In 2024, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) committed for its climate finance to reach 50% of its total annual committed financing by 2030.
Overall, ADB committed 12ドル.3 billion in climate finance from investments, technical assistance, and direct charges in 2024. Of this total, 7ドル.4 billion (60%) is expected to contribute to climate change mitigation and 4ドル.9 billion (40%) to climate change adaptation. ADB provided 11ドル.2 billion of climate finance from its own resources and mobilized 1ドル.1 billion from external resources.*
*ADB administered donor trust funds, financing from multilateral climate funds such as Global Environment Facility, Climate Investment Fund, Green Climate Fund, and bilateral financing, among others.
a Figures are presented as reported by the ADB Cofinancing Management System. Please contact fund team directly for more information.
ADB strengthens disaster risk management assistance to its developing member countries
On 5 October 2021, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved the new Disaster and Emergency Assistance Policy, the Emergency Assistance Loan Policy, and the Establishment of a Second Window of Assistance under the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund. These three policies are intended to increase the impact of ADB’s support to its developing member countries in strengthening their resilience and responding to disasters and emergencies affecting them.
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ADB is a leading multilateral development bank supporting sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth across Asia and the Pacific. Working with its members and partners to solve complex challenges together, ADB harnesses innovative financial tools and strategic partnerships to transform lives, build quality infrastructure, and safeguard our planet.
Founded in 1966, ADB is owned by 69 members—50 from the region.
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