Sweden supports Asia’s green transition
Published
Diana Janse, State Secretary to Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa, visited the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila this week. The bank’s work on the green transition in Asia was one of many discussion topics during the visit. Also present on the trip was Sida Director-General Jakob Granit, as Sida is responsible for issuing a Swedish guarantee for increased climate financing in Asia.
“As part of the Government’s reform agenda for development assistance, we are now investing in new forms of financing in the form of guarantees that focus on climate challenges. I have spoken with the ADB about how Swedish companies can contribute solutions for the green transition,” says Ms Janse.
Sweden would like to increase its cooperation with the ADB, a bank that works in innovative ways with new financing forms and on the development of Asia’s private sector. It also focuses on poverty and the climate transition. The Government welcomes the ADB’s ambition to become the foremost climate bank in the region. Fossil fuels still account for 85 percent of energy consumption in the Asia Pacific region, and with rapidly growing economies, the region is at risk of increasing its share of global emissions. At the same time, several small island states in the region face enormous climate dangers.
The ADB operates all over Asia. Its operations contribute to Sweden’s development policy priorities, which aim to promote synergies between trade and development assistance and contribute to expanded and more efficient climate assistance. In December, the Government decided to allocate over SEK 250 million to the the ADB’s fund for the poorest countries in the region.
About the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
The ADB supports development and climate transition in Asia and the Pacific through loans, grants and technical assistance to countries and the private sector in the region. Sweden is a shareholder in the bank, and Ms Janse is Sweden’s Governor of the bank. Sweden supports the bank’s operations through equity, contributions to the bank’s fund for lending to the poorest countries and through guarantees and contributions to the bank’s special programmes. Sida, the Swedish Energy Agency and the Swedish Tax Agency are examples of Swedish government agencies that cooperate with the ADB.
