Opening remarks by Ahmed M. Saeed, ADB Vice-President, Operations 2, at the People's Republic of China's Strategies and Actions on Climate Adaptation, a side event at COP 27, 10 November 2022
Your Excellency, Deputy Minister, Zhao Yingmin
Simon Stiell, UNFCCC, Executive Secretary
Selwin Hart, Special Adviser and Assistant Secretary-General, UN Climate Action Team
Patrick Verkooijen CEO, Global Center on Adaptation
Distinguished Guests
It is a pleasure to be here with you today to recognize the significant achievement of the People Republic of China’s (PRC's) new National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy 2035 and to discuss how we can advance its implementation. The Strategy presents a comprehensive and integrated vision aligned with the theme of COP 27, Delivering for people and the planet.
The strategy is also aligned with ADB’s approach to climate adaptation and provides an excellent platform for ADB and the PRC to enhance our close partnership and collaboration to support a more resilient Asia and the Pacific region. Over the past few years, the events in the PRC and globally have demonstrated that we cannot avoid climate change impacts. They are happening now. Resilience is imperative as the projected global climate scenario worsens as recently highlighted by the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report.
Like the PRC, ADB has ambitious aspirations and plans for climate change mitigation and adaptation, which are fundamental to all ADB programs. Accordingly, ADB has committed to provide $100 billion in cumulative climate finance between 2019 and 2030, of which $34 billion is for adaptation. To help achieve this, ADB will ensure that all its new sovereign operations align with the Paris Agreement by 2023 and its non-sovereign operations by 2025. ADB’s PRC Country Partnership Strategy 2021 to 2025 also features the two closely interconnected pillars of environmentally sustainable development and climate change adaptation and mitigation. Since 2017, ADB has provided $4.13 billion in climate finance to the PRC, including $3.07 billion for mitigation and $1.06 billion for adaptation.
ADB is adopting a three-pronged approach to scale up its climate adaptation outcomes:
First, ADB will increase upstream engagement with our members, and our support to PRC’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment to help prepare the new National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy is excellent example of such cooperation. ADB will engage its members to help realize National Adaptation Plans through diagnostic studies, projects, policy and institutional reform, knowledge, and capacity building. This will help ensure that ADB members understand climate impacts and possible solutions better and stimulate demand for resilience projects. The PRC’s new Adaptation Strategy also provides an agenda for ADB assistance that will yield valuable lessons for replicability and scaling-up in the PRC and throughout the region.
Second, ADB will partner with its member countries to develop projects that deliver adaptation and resilience-specific outcomes across vulnerable sectors such as agriculture, water resources, and urban development. Our partnership with the PRC provides a tremendous opportunity and enlightened partner with whom to design such projects and achieve adaptation at scale. ADB is prepared and motivated to pursue these projects together.
Third, ADB is supporting its member countries to assess and integrate adaptation measures into non-infrastructure investments in areas such as social protection, health, and education. This inclusive approach to adaptation parallels the new Climate Change Adaptation Strategy that also addresses adaptation for economic and social systems including livelihoods, education, and health concerns.
In addition, the new Strategy highlights three very important topics to ADB.
The first is a focus on synergies between adaptation and mitigation and to address them simultaneously wherever possible. This can be the case with (i) climate smart agriculture which results in more resilient and sustainable production and value chains while reducing green-house gas emissions or (ii) with afforestation and wetlands amelioration which enhance resilience and carbon sequestration. This approach is extremely important to leverage impact in an environment of scarce resources and increasing need for climate action.
Second, the Strategy stresses the importance of governance and the alignment of climate action with existing resource management and other relevant policies. Institutional strengthening and policy development are paramount to ADB’s PRC program as expressed in our Country Partnership Strategy. This explicit recognition of the importance of governance is fully supported and well aligned to leverage ADB’s assistance.
Third, the co-benefits from adaptation highlighted in the Strategy include a focus on tackling pollution, a pro-active approach to environmental protection and restoration of ecosystems, and conservation of biodiversity. These vital concerns directly support the strategic pillars of ADB’s PRC Country Partnership Strategy and are critical institutional goals for ADB.
Finally, I want to conclude with something that is extremely important for ADB. As we speak of climate action, we must not forget about what matters most to millions of poor and vulnerable people – their livelihoods, opportunities, and a fair share of our common prosperity.
The new National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy recognizes that climate change impacts vary spatially, temporally and affect disparate segments of the population differently. Some people are more vulnerable and need more urgent assistance. At ADB like the PRC, we believe that those most affected and least able to cope with climate change impacts as well as the required actions to combat climate change must be protected as these events unfold. Accordingly, ADB is launching a Just Transition Support Platform at COP27.
In closing, I would like to congratulate the PRC for their global climate leadership and completion of the new National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. ADB is a proud partner, and we look forward to working together to strengthen the realization of our joint climate ambitions, building upon our long and productive cooperation.
Thank you.