The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $250-million loan to support the Philippines in its climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts, the multilateral agency said in a statement yesterday.
“We have a climate emergency, and all countries must come together and address the causes and adapt in a way that ensures food security, protects our biodiversity, and improves the well-being of millions of vulnerable persons,” said Ahmed Saeed, ADB vice president for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
“The Philippines has adopted important climate actions and goals that will help address these threats and challenges and guide a green and resilient recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic,” Saeed added.
The ADB said the Climate Change Action Program will help the Philippines deliver its nationally determined contribution — its commitment to help advance global efforts to stabilize the world’s climate under the Paris Agreement — and intensify efforts to transform vulnerable sectors toward a climate-resilient and low-carbon economy.
“This is ADB’s first climate action policy-based loan. It will support the Philippines develop, deliver and finance a holistic approach to address climate change by transitioning to low-carbon pathways, strengthening the ability of vulnerable sectors to adapt to climate change and increasing conservation of land and marine resources,” Saeed said.
The Global Climate Risk Index 2021 ranks the Philippines fourth among countries most affected by extreme weather globally from 2000 to 2019.
The ADB said the new program targets policy reforms and will help the Philippine government build planning, financing and institutional systems to scale up climate action.
It will support reforms to enhance the resilience of farming and fishing communities to the increasing impacts of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the deployment of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable transport.
The program was prepared jointly with the Agence Franí§aise de Développement, which is providing co-financing of $172 million to the government.
The ADB said policy-based loans transfer loan amounts to a government’s general budget instead of paying for explicit project costs.
Loan funds are disbursed only when the borrower completes policy reforms or actions that have been agreed with ADB. This is ADB’s first policy-based loan that addresses climate change as its core objective. — Angela Celis