Kiribati and Tonga Secured GCF Funding via ADB

MANILA, PHILIPPINES 22 October 2018 — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has secured $108 million in funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for its climate change projects, shoring up efforts to increase its climate financing for the Asia and Pacific region.

The new funding—comprising $71 million in grants and $37 million in concessional loans—was approved during the 21st meeting of the GCF board on 17-20 October in Manama, Bahrain, and will provide cofinancing support to three ADB-financed projects in Kiribati, Pakistan, and Tonga.

In Kiribati, a $29 million GCF grant, combined with a $15 million grant from ADB and grant cofinancing from the World Bank, will provide the entire population of South Tarawa with climate resilient water supply through a seawater desalination plant. A new solar photovoltaic plant will largely offset the desalination plant’s demand for electricity. A rehabilitated and expanded water supply network will reduce leakages and ensure residents have access to clean water, while awareness raising in the community will contribute to the project’s sustainability.

In Tonga, a GCF grant of $29.9 million, combined with a $12.2 million grant from ADB, will enable a shift away from the traditional reliance on fossil fuels toward a greater emphasis on a climate-resilient battery energy storage system and renewable energy systems. It will also support the construction of a mini-grid system in the outer islands. 

The assistance for these three projects is on top of the $265 million in grants and loans previously approved by GCF for six ADB projects in Asia and the Pacific.

In its recently endorsed corporate strategy for 2030, ADB has made an ambitious commitment to address the climate challenge in the Asia and Pacific region, with a target of cumulative climate financing of $80 billion from its own resources in the 2019–2030 period.

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Source: Asian Development Bank