ADB to double annual climate financing to $6 bn

The Asian Development Bank is to double its annual lending for climate change adaptation to $6 billion by 2020, the Philippines-based lender said.

The initiative comes as world leaders adopted on Friday an ambitious set of 17 global goals, including combating climate change and its impacts, ADB president Takehiko Nakao said in a statement sent to AFP.

"Nowhere is tackling climate change more critical than in Asia and the Pacific, where rising sea levels, melting glaciers, and weather extremes like floods and droughts are damaging livelihoods and taking far too many lives," he said.

Under the 2020 lending plan, ADB is to dedicate $4 billion each year to climate change mitigation by boosting support for renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transport, and building smart cities.

The other $2 billion will be for adaptation through more resilient infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture, and better preparation for climate-related disasters, the Manila-based bank said.

By 2020, ADB spending on tackling climate change will rise to around 30 percent of its overall financing, it added.

ADB annual lending and assistance totalled $22.9 billion last year, it said.