Here are the climate-related sections of speeches by MPs during the Commons debate Draft Asian Development Bank (Thirteenth Replenishment of the Asian Development Fund) Order 2024 Draft Inter-American Investment Corporation (Further Payments to Capital Stock) Order 2024.
18:04 Anneliese Dodds (Labour)
ADB is an important partner for the UK that plays a key role in the achievement of regional development objectives on sustainable development and climate change. In line with multilateral development bank reform priorities to support the most vulnerable, the UK has committed £120 million to ADF to maintain our position as the fourth largest donor. The draft Asian Development Bank (Thirteenth Replenishment of the Asian Development Fund) Order will allow for the provision of this core funding by the UK. During this replenishment, a record high of 38%—almost $2 billion—will be funded from ADB’s own net income, reducing the cost to donors of achieving the same development impact. The total value of the replenishment is $5 billion.
The replenishment will prioritise dedicated assistance to small-island developing states, which are particularly vulnerable to climate change, and to countries in fragile and conflict-affected situations, including Afghanistan and Myanmar. It will support much-needed climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction, will promote gender equality, will support regional integration nd the provision of regional public goods and will increase the living standards of poor and vulnerable people in the region. Specifically, ADF will dedicate at least 45% of its financing to climate mitigation and adaptation; will commit $900 million for Afghanistan and $200 million for Myanmar, providing vital support for basic human needs and livelihood development; will increase commitments to Pacific island states to $1.3 billion, some 35% of the total replenishment financing; and will allocate 20% of thematic funding to gender-transformative action, which will tackle violence against women and girls, ensure access to sexual and reproductive services and promote access to economic resources such as land and asset ownership.
ADF is an essential lifeline to the region’s most vulnerable people, who have faced multiple crises over the past few years, including climate change, coronavirus and the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. ADF provides excellent value for money for the taxpayer, leveraging approximately $11 from the bank’s resources for every $1 contributed by donors. This is one step closer to building a bigger, better and fairer international financial system—one that delivers for everyone.
The IDB is also a trusted UK partner and is instrumental in the achievement of regional development objectives on sustainable development, action on climate change, biodiversity protection and pandemic and disaster preparedness. Furthermore, the G20 has called on multilateral development banks to adopt new business models to stretch their balance sheets, increase lending and make riskier investments. With the new Government, the UK has been at the forefront of these calls. This is exactly what IDB Invest has committed to doing.
Let me lay out some of the outcomes that IDB Invest expects to achieve by 2030 through the new business model and capital increase. It will dedicate at least 60% of investments to climate and green finance; will finance 2.5 million micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, which in turn could support 9.5 million jobs; will create more than 300,000 women direct beneficiaries of its programmes and support 1.6 million of the region’s poor and vulnerable people; and will improve access to agricultural services and investments for 44,000 farmers. It is also predicted to achieve a reduction of 3.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and to generate 1,400 MW from renewable sources for new clean energy projects. In addition, IDB Invest will continue to share lessons learned in the implementation of its business model with other development finance institutions to encourage more private sector investment globally. This represents excellent value for money: for every $1 that the UK invests, $5 of development-related assets are generated, taking us one step closer to achieving the region’s sustainable development goals.
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18:08 Andrew Rosindell (Reform)
Precisely what climate change mitigation should we expect to be funded? What kind of sustainable infrastructure development are we looking at? Will the Minister elaborate on what the Government are trying to achieve by means of “deepening regional co-operation”? What does she mean by that?
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Anneliese Dodds (Labour)
The shadow Minister asked about regional co-operation. A particularly important area is encouraging intra-regional trade and encouraging, for example, the integration of energy systems, which is becoming increasingly important in the light of the climate crisis. These are areas that have been examined.
The shadow Minister asked about the Caribbean. The fund will, absolutely, be focused on the Caribbean, which is really important. That is particularly the case when it comes to adaptation-focused investment. IDB Invest will be making 10% of its investments in the Caribbean, and 60% of its focus will be on pro-environmental and climate measures, including adaptation, which are particularly important for those countries and overseas territories that are being hammered by the impacts of the climate crisis right now.
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