Climate Financing by 7 of the Largest MDB’s Totalled $61.6 Bn in 2019

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Climate financing by seven of the world’s largest multilateral development banks (MDBs) totalled USD 61.6 billion in 2019, with USD 41.5 billion (67 percent) in low- and middle-income economies, according to the 2019 Joint Report on Multilateral Development Banks’ (MDB’s) Climate Finance.

In addition to its traditional focus on low- and middle-income countries, the 2019 report expands the scope of reporting for the first time to all countries of operations. Some USD 46.6 billion, or 76 percent of total financing for the year, was devoted to climate change mitigation investments that aim to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions and slow down global warming. The remaining USD 15 billion, or 24 percent, was invested in adaptation efforts to help countries build resilience to the mounting impacts of climate change, including worsening droughts and more extreme weather events from extreme flooding to rising sea levels.

The report combines data from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Inter-American Development Bank Group, the World Bank Group and—for the first time—the Islamic Development Bank, which joined the working group in October 2017.

The report goes on to add that additional climate funds channeled through MDBs—such as from the Climate Investment Funds, the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund, the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund, the European Union’s Funds for Climate Action, and the Green Climate Fund—also played an important role in boosting MDB climate financing. In 2019, the MDBs reported a further USD 102.7 billion in net climate co-financing from public and private sources. This raised the total climate activity financed by MDBs in 2019 to USD 164.3 billion.

“The growing flow of MDB climate finance shows our joint resolve to take on climate change and, in the face of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, it is more important than ever to ‘build back better’ in low carbon and climate-resilient way,” said the Director-General of ADB’s Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department Woochong Um. “The report shows that climate finance provided by and through the MDBs is providing increasing support for these needed transitions.”

In 2019, ADB committed almost USD 7.1 billion in climate finance (more than USD 5.5 billion for mitigation and USD 1.5 billion for adaptation). This included USD 705 million from external resources, including multilateral climate funds. Further, the bank mobilised USD 8.8 billion of climate cofinancing.

The report shows that the MDBs are on track to deliver on their increased climate finance commitments. In 2019, the MDBs committed their global annual climate financing to reach USD 65 billion by 2025—with USD 50 billion for low- and middle-income countries—and that MDB adaptation finance would double to USD 18 billion by 2025.

Source: saurenergy.com