MANILA: Multilateral development banks (MDBs) announced today that their global climate finance reached a record high of $125 billion in 2023. The combined total last year from institutions, including the Asian Development Bank, is more than double the amount provided in 2019, when MDBs announced their ambition to increase climate finance levels over time at the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit.

‘We welcome the fact that MDBs provided record climate finance last year-every dollar of which makes a difference in helping to cut carbon emissions or preparing people and infrastructure for the worst impacts of climate change, much of which we must recognize is already baked in,’ said ADB Director General for Sustainable Development and Climate Change Bruno Carrasco. ‘There remains a large financing gap and ADB will continue to work closely with other MDBs-and in its own right-to get as much financing as possible to our developing member countries.’

Last year, $74.7 billion of MDB climate f
inance was directed toward low- and middle-income economies. Of this sum, 67 percent-or $50 billion-went to climate change mitigation and $24.7 billion, or 33 percent, for climate change adaptation. The amount of mobilised private finance for this group of countries stood at $28.5 billion.

In 2023, $50.3 billion was allocated for high-income economies. Of this amount, $47.3 billion, or 94 percent, was for climate change mitigation and the remaining $3 billion, or 6 percent, went to climate change adaptation. The amount of mobilised private finance for high-income countries stood at $72.7 billion.

Today’s announcement comes in the run-up to COP29 to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan in November 2024. One of the key deliverables of COP29 is to increase global climate finance and to reach agreement on the new collective quantified goal on climate finance.

Source: Emirates News Agency