The Asia Clean Blue Skies Program (ACBSP), which the Asian Development Bank (ADB) inaugurated on September 8th, will increase ADB’s investments in enhancing air quality in Asia and the Pacific.
Launched at the Fourth Asia Pacific Clean Air Partnership joint forum in the Republic of Korea, the ACBSP will assist developing member countries (DMCs) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in establishing policies and plans to encourage investments in projects that improve air quality, such as reductions in greenhouse gases in the energy, agricultural production, haulage, manufacturing, and urban development sectors, among others.
The climate, ecosystems, and food security of the area are seriously threatened by air pollution, according to Bruno Carrasco, director general of the ADB’s Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department. Through the ACBSP, ADB will assist in enhancing project design and supervision in a way that improves the quality of the air within the DMCs.
By utilising the technical and financial assets of ADB and its partners, the ACBSP will be put into action from the 4th quarter of 2022 until 2030, and it will help DMCs become more capable of designing and implementing investment projects that will improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions. The programme will help DMCs fulfil their obligations under the Paris Agreement and national commitments to attain carbon neutrality.
Over the last eight years, ADB has funded more than $2.5 billion in initiatives in the region’s fight against air pollution. Assessment of the project’s effects on air quality, as well as air quality monitoring during project execution, are necessary for all investment projects sponsored or managed by ADB that contain environmental safeguard requirements.
ADB plans to give its DMCs a total of $100 billion in climate finance between 2019 and 2030.