COP26: International partners pledge $665 million to ASEAN’s green recovery
The UK government, The EU, Italy’s CDP, and the Green Climate Fund all pledged funds for the ADB’s new Green Recovery Platform.
At COP26 today, four international partners collectively pledged $665 million toward an Asian Development Bank (ADB) platform aiming to mobilise $7 billion for low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure projects across Southeast Asia and aiding the region’s recovery from the Covid pandemic.
The financing package includes £110 million ($151 million) from the UK government, €132 million ($155 million) from Italian state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), €50 million from the European Union, and $300 million from the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The partnerships will be part of a new Green Recovery Platform to support the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Catalytic Green Finance Facility (ACGF), established by the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund and managed by ADB.
The new commitments add to the $1.4 billion in cofinancing already pledged to the AGCF since 2019, bringing total commitments to the facility to $2 billion. The facility's original financing partners include the ADB, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the European Investment Bank, the German state-owned development bank KfW, and the Government of the Republic of Korea.
As in much of the developing world, the COVID-19 pandemic has had damaging economic, health, and social impacts in Southeast Asia. The IMF estimates that growth in ASEAN’s top five economies (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam) will still be 6% lower in 2024 than the level that was expected before the pandemic struck.
The Green Recovery Platform will provide financing and technical assistance to reduce investment risks and catalyse public and private financing for green infrastructure projects in the region. It will also support the efforts of ASEAN developing member countries to reach their climate goals under the Paris Agreement and help them strengthen green capital markets, such as by expanding the issuance of green and climate bonds.
“ASEAN countries have a unique opportunity to build a green and inclusive future after the COVID-19 pandemic,” said ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa. “The ASEAN Green Recovery Platform will help accelerate the flow of investments to support climate-resilient, environmentally sustainable infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia and boost sustainable, equitable development.”
The Green Recovery Platform forms part of ADB’s push to raise its ambition for 2019–2030 cumulative climate financing to $100 billion, while ensuring that at least 75% of projects will address climate change mitigation and adaptation by 2030.
