The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will stop financing new coal power plants under a draft energy policy released earlier this week. (Photo: Reuters)The ADB, which provides loans and grants for projects in the poorest countries in the Asia Pacific region, said its current policy was "no longer adequately aligned with the global consensus on climate change".
“Coal and other fossil fuels have played a large part in ensuring access to energy for the region's economic development, but they have not solved the energy access challenge, and their use harms the environment and accelerates climate change,” the Manila-based bank said in the document.
The lender will also no longer fund "any coal mining, oil and natural gas field exploration, drilling or extraction activities", the document said.
However, under certain conditions, it would provide funds for natural gas projects and "hybrid electricity solutions" involving fossil fuels as backup systems, according to the draft.
Between 2009 and 2019 the ADB funnelled 42.5 billion USD into energy sector projects in Asia, where around 60 percent of electricity is generated by coal, its data show.
The final version of the energy policy is expected to be submitted to the ADB board of directors by October./.
VNA
