Page 10 - AsiaElec Week 15 2021

AsiaElec CLIMATE CHANGE AsiaElec

ADB, France’s AFD to work

together to boost climate action

ASIA THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asakawa said that the ADB’s response to
Agence Française de Développement Group COVID-19 included a $20bn support package
(AFD) are to work more closely on key issues for Asia and the Pacific announced in April last
such as climate change and aspirations for year.
COP26. ADB has so far committed $17.1bn through
“ADB’s partnership with France, through grants, technical assistance and loans to govern-
AFD, is strong and continues to build on our ments and the private sector, and has mobilised
long history of collaboration on important an additional $12.2bn in co-financing.
development issues and projects across many Asakawa acknowledged with appreciation
countries and sectors in Asia,” ADB president AFD co-financing for ADB’s $500mn COVID-
Masatsugu Asakawa said. 19 response programme in Pakistan.
“This solid foundation and our dynamic Asakawa stressed the importance of vaccine
collaboration allows us to support an inclusive access to enable the post-COVID-19 recov-
and resilient green recovery across the region as ery, and updated M. Rioux on the roll-out of
it emerges from the [coronavirus] COVID-19 ADB’s $9bn Asia-Pacific Vaccine Access Facility
pandemic.” (APVAX).
Asakawa met AFD CEO Rémy Rioux ahead The two leaders discussed co-operation on
of the agencies’ annual high-level consultation mitigating the severe impact of climate change
on 14 and 15 April. in Asia and the Pacific that threatens to further
ADB and AFD signed their first partnership undermine development gains from the last sev-
framework agreement in October 2016. They eral decades.
have since jointly funded 22 projects in 10 coun- As part of that endeavour, ADB and ADF
tries, in sectors such as energy, transport, public have a shared objective to contribute to the suc-
sector management, finance, agriculture, water, cess of the COP26 summit to be hosted by the
urban infrastructure and health. UK government later in the year. In 2020, while
AFD has provided $1.9bn in co-financing responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, ADB
alongside $4.7bn from the ADB to fund these committed $4.3bn in climate finance and mobi-
development programmes across the region. lised $729mn from external resources.™

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