Dubai, United Arab Emirates, In a significant development at COP28, multilateral development banks (MDBs) have released a joint statement outlining a series of urgent actions to amplify their response to climate change. This includes scaling up finance, improving measurement of climate outcomes, and strengthening both country-level collaboration and engagement with the private sector.
According to Asian Development Bank , the MDBs collectively emphasized the critical need to act swiftly and on a large scale to address the interconnected crises of climate, nature, and pollution. ADB’s Climate Envoy, Warren Evans, highlighted the crucial role of MDB collaboration in tackling the climate crisis, with a focus on Asia and the Pacific region. He underscored ADB’s commitment to increasing climate finance and forming partnerships to aid member countries in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing climate resilience.
The MDBs’ joint statement reaffirms their dedication to inclusive, gender-sensitive, and nature-positive climate actions, leveraging their diverse mandates, networks, and expertise. Key strategies include:
Enhancing the focus on measuring climate results, outcomes, and impacts.
Providing coordinated support for countries and sub-national entities to develop and implement Long-term Strategies (LTS).
Fostering collaboration at the country level.
Attracting private capital on a significant scale.
Boosting efforts in adaptation and disaster risk management.
The MDBs also committed to strengthening collaboration in related areas such as nature, water, health, and gender, in line with their respective mandates and governance frameworks.
In 2022, MDBs reached record levels of climate finance and private finance mobilization. They committed $61 billion for climate finance in low- and middle-income economies, an 18% increase from 2021, and nearly $100 billion across all economies they operate in. Adaptation finance accounted for 37% of the total committed finance in these countries, with total climate cofinancing reaching $46 billion, including $15 billion in private finance mobilization.
Furthermore, MDBs continue to align their activities with the Paris Agreement goals, as evidenced by their joint framework presented at COP24. In 2023, they published the Joint MDB Methodological Principles for Assessment of Paris Agreement Alignment of New Operations and are actively supporting just transition efforts across various contexts and regions.