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Conference on Clean Energy to Address Climate Change

Welcome Remarks by
C. Lawrence Greenwood
Vice President, Operations 2
Asian Development Bank

30 October 2007
Manila, Philippines

Honorable Secretary for Energy Angelo Reyes, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. We are delighted to welcome you all here to discuss options to address climate change.

ADB is committed to support its member countries in achieving growth that is both robust and sustainable. That will require adequate investment to 1) produce the energy needed to fuel growth, 2) to mitigate the impact of energy production on the environment and climate, and 3) to adapt to coming climate change. In addition to support national programs in our DMC, we will also support our members' participation in regional and global climate change framework as they develop.

This is not a new area for our Bank. Over the last 30 years, ADB has provided about $2.8 billion in loans and around $15 million in technical assistances to the energy sector mostly focused on conventional power generation. Reflecting global concern about the environment, ADB is now shifting more of that investment in support of a low-carbon future. Reducing dependence on fossil fuels in our developing member countries through a comprehensive program of demand and supply side measures will not only help the environment and slow climate change, but will enhance energy security. Clean and efficient energy technologies already exist, but despite their potential benefits, their application in Asia has been slower than desired. We pledge to help our member countries overcome the constraints to faster development and application of these technologies, especially through technical assistance and financing. Our commitment to supporting Asia's transition to a low carbon economy is highlighted in our updated energy strategy, which we will issue in the coming weeks.

To provide that support we launched last year the Clean Energy and Environment Program. The Program comprises six distinct initiatives:

• the Energy Efficiency Initiative aims to expand our clean energy portfolio to $1 billion a year by 2008;
• the Carbon Market Initiative provides upfront financing and technical support to developers and sponsors of projects with GHG mitigation benefits that can quality as an eligible Clean Development Mechanism project under the Kyoto Protocol;
• the Sustainable Urban Transport Initiative will provide advice and financing for public transport innovations and new mobility patterns to reduce GHG and other pollution;
• an Energy for All initiative will increase access by the poor to clean and efficient energy services;
• establishment of Knowledge Hubs will support and strengthen the region's capacity to generate innovative concepts, science, technology, and management processes in all aspects of clean energy and climate change adaptation; and finally
• the Climate Change Adaptation Program helps countries assess vulnerabilities and develop investment and management responses to climate change.

We are particularly pleased to have the opportunity to cooperate with the Philippines in the area of Energy Efficiency and we look forward to heaving more about that this morning. We will be working with the Government to identify barriers and prepare investment and action plans on energy efficiency. We expect the project to help develop innovative financing mechanisms to promote greater deployment of energy efficiency and serve as a model for other clean energy and climate change initiatives in the region.

Before closing, let me thank the participants here today for sharing their experience and expertise with us. Only through such partnerships can we hope to find the solutions to the serious issue of climate change. I would also like to thank the Government of the Philippines for their leadership and initiative that have made today's Conference possible.

We at the ADB are very excited by this opportunity to expand our partnerships and we look forward to continuing to cooperate with you to help build a cleaner, safer, healthier world for future generations.