11 September 2014: In a joint statement issued in the run-up to the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit, which is taking place on 23 September in New York, US, key multilateral development banks (MDBs) have affirmed their commitment to reinforce and further develop climate financing by maintaining a strong institutional focus on climate change. Since 2011, the six MDBs behind the statement have delivered close to US$75 billion in climate financing, of which approximately 20% has been in support of adaptation.

The signatories of the joint statement are: the African Development Bank (AfDB); the Asian Development Bank (ADB); the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); the European Investment Bank (EIB); the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); and the World Bank Group.

In the statement, the MDBs pledge to enhance their climate finance action, coordinate their financing, ideas and analyses, and harmonize approaches to climate action. The banks will seek to stimulate and support increased global climate action by: leveraging resources to reinforce climate finance; developing and applying innovative ideas, including green bonds; mainstreaming climate into core operations; and promoting harmonized, transparent and robust climate finance reporting.

On leveraging resources, the statement notes that the MDBs’ sound financial structures and long-term loans are increasing other investors’ confidence to participate in climate finance projects, thereby increasing the scale of finance provided. As an example of the donors’ role in catalyzing finances, the statement informs that US$8 billion in public funds issued under the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) are expected to mobilize a total of US$55 billion from private and public sources.

Commenting on the statement, Bindu N. Lohani, ADB’s Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, declared that the bank would continue to invest US$2 billion annually in clean energy, and would “sharpen” its “focus on adaptation by including climate risk management in all projects, including screening all investments early on and conducting vulnerability assessments and incorporating climate resilience designs where needed.”

Speaking on the EBRD’s contribution, Josué Tanaka, EBRD’s Managing Director for Energy Efficiency and Climate Change, noted that, since 2006, the Bank’s climate finance has reached US$20 billion, with a total project value of more than US$100 billion and a total carbon dioxide emission reduction of 67 Mt. [ADB Press Release] [EBRD Press Release] [Joint Statement by Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) on Climate Finance]