MANILA: The Asian Development Bank announced that it will no longer finance coal mining or oil and natural gas production and exploration. The multilateral development bank which works towards eradicating poverty in Asia released a draft policy statement on May 7 stating its decision.
Although ADB provided no timeline for its commitment, its move was welcomed by environmental groups, saying that this decision was a decade overdue. Pedro H Maniego Jr, senior policy adviser at the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, said that although late, the policy will still help build the economic case for energy transition by governments and investors and will simultaneously assist in avoiding more stranded coal assets. ADB also laid out conditions under which certain fossil fuel projects would continue to receive funding, such as in cases where no other cost-effective technology was available. According to Yongping Zhai, Head, Energy sector, ADB, the draft for the policy is scheduled to be deliberated by its board of directors in October this year.