Arab News

DUBAI: The Asian Development Bank has announced plans to launch several flagship initiatives at the COP27 climate conference, Emirates News Agency reported.

The conference comes at a critical time as Asia and the Pacific deal with the ramifications of increasingly intense weather events caused by climate change, the bank said.

It pointed out that COP27 provided an opportunity for the global community to come together to decarbonize on a large scale while also significantly expanding concessional and grant resources to developing countries.

During the key decision-making forum, the ADB will launch the Asia Pacific water resilience initiative, aimed at promoting water management in the region, and a Pacific finance hub to restore ocean health, build coastal resilience, and develop sustainable blue economies.

The bank will also launch its so-called just transition support platform to ensure that the benefits of the shift to low-carbon, resilient economies are shared equally, and no individual, community, or region is left behind.

In addition, the ADB is piloting an innovative finance facility for climate in the Asia and the Pacific regions which will use guarantees and grant contributions from donor countries and philanthropies to leverage $4 for every $1. The IFCAP will facilitate much-needed investment for both climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The last 12 months have highlighted the negative human impact on climate, particularly in Asia and the Pacific.

Flooding in Pakistan has been historically devastating, as has extreme drought in China, tropical cyclones in the Pacific Islands, and typhoons in the Philippines.

As severe weather events continue to intensify, COP outcomes are critical for meeting the Paris Agreement and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change goals of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

ADB climate envoy, Warren Evans, said: “We cannot avoid all the impacts of climate change, they are already happening, so we have to focus on building resilience of the most vulnerable communities.

“COP27 will focus on scaling-up adaptation solutions and mobilizing and strengthening access to financing for adaptation.

“As Asia and the Pacific’s climate bank, ADB raised its ambition for climate change financing for 2019 to 2030 from $80 billion to $100 billion, of which $34 billion is marked for adaptation.

“Some recent examples of that commitment to adaptation include a $1.5 billion loan for Pakistan, under ADB’s building resilience with active countercyclical expenditures program, which includes help to promote climate change adaptation following this year’s devastating flooding, as well as $250 million to strengthen climate and disaster resilience in 22 dozen coastal towns in Bangladesh.

“It is time to step up and mobilize the kind of resources, with the kind of conditions, that allow countries to really use those resources to adapt to and become more resilient to climate change,” he added.