MANILA, Philippines – Climate finance committed by major multilateral development banks (MDBs) rose by more than 24 percent last year compared to 2020, according to the 2021 Joint Report on Multilateral Development Banks’ Climate Finance, published today.
The 2021 total financing by MDBs already surpassed the 2025 climate finance goals set at the 2019 United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit in New York. The goals amount to an expected collective total of $50 billion for low- and middle-income economies, and at least $65 billion of climate finance globally, with a projected doubling of adaptation finance to $18 billion, and private mobilization of $40 billion.
MDBs provided around $51 billion (62% of overall MDB climate finance) in climate finance to low- and middle-income economies. Of this total, more than $33 billion (65%) was for climate change mitigation and more than $17 billion (35%) for climate change adaptation. The amount of mobilized private finance stood at $13 billion.
In addition, MDBs provided more than $31 billion (38% of overall MDB climate finance) in climate finance to high-income economies, with $29 billion (95%) for climate change mitigation and $1.6 billion (5%) for climate change adaptation. The amount of mobilized private finance stood at $28 billion.
“These increasing levels of climate commitments from ADB and our partner institutions underscores the importance of climate change as the global issue of our lifetime,’’ said ADB Climate Envoy Warren Evans. “In Asia and the Pacific, we are uniquely vulnerable. Whether it’s historic levels of flooding in Pakistan, devastating drought in the People’s Republic of China, or cyclones in the Pacific, our region knows full well the ever-present impact of climate change. It’s vital we continue to scale up this financing – for both mitigation and adaptation – to protect the lives and livelihoods of people in our region.”
The Joint Report on Multilateral Development Banks’ Climate Finance is an annual collaboration to make the banks’ climate finance figures public, together with a clear explanation of the methodologies for tracking this finance. This joint report, alongside the publication of climate finance statistics for each bank, is intended to track progress in relation to their climate finance targets, such as those announced around COP21, and the greater ambition pledged for the post-2020 period.
The 2021 MDBs report, coordinated by the European Investment Bank (EIB), combines data from the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the EIB, the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IADB), the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), and the World Bank Group (WBG). This year’s report also summarizes information on climate finance tracking from the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) and the New Development Bank (NDB), presented separately from the joint figures.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members – 49 from the region.
