The Asian Development Bank (ADB) pledged over $20 billion of its resources to aid Asia and the Pacific in sustainable development endeavors, as per its 2023 annual report. The report elaborates on how the bank assisted developing member countries in addressing issues such as the climate crisis, conflict impacts, food insecurity, and other challenges.
The ADB's investment comprised funds from various sources including equity investments, grants, loans, technical assistance, and guarantees to private sector entities and government agencies. The bank also mobilized cofinancing of $16.4 billion through partnerships.
"ADB continued to step up as the climate bank for Asia and the Pacific, reaching our highest-ever annual financing for climate action," said ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa. "Our investments in adaptation and mitigation had a strong focus on climate-resilient agriculture, renewable energy, and low-carbon transport."
The report further highlights changes that the bank is implementing to advance towards sustainable development goals. This includes augmenting future lending operations with up to $100 billion in new lending capacity announced in September 2023.
Management reforms were introduced via the bank’s updated Capital Adequacy Framework. These reforms increase the bank’s new commitment capacity each year by an additional $10 billion compared to before the reforms, amounting to up to $36 billion. The reforms also enable the bank to support developing member countries during crises.
"These important reforms will significantly expand ADB’s ability to support a broad range of critical development efforts across Asia and the Pacific, including greater concessional resources for our vulnerable members," Asakawa said in a September 2023 news release. "Our decision today is part of ADB’s response to the call for multilateral development banks (MDBs) to do more with our resources and faster. These resources will help the region manage a complex set of overlapping crises, address gender inequality, and provide for basic needs in the context of the existential challenge of climate change. This extra lending power will be extended and leveraged further by renewed efforts to mobilize private and domestic capital and maximize the impact of our work."
In 2023, the bank invested significantly in sustainable development projects including high-quality energy and transport infrastructure among other elements. It also increased its support for health and education across the region.