Financing Climate Change and Sustainable Development Action in Asia and the Pacific

2 May 2010 (2:00 pm - 3:30 pm)

Despite the protracted process, the UN climate change talks have reached agreement on some important interim measures to be taken by both developed and developing countries in addressing this global challenge. Among those included in the Copenhagen Accord is a commitment to provide $30 billion of climate change financing for developing countries between 2010 and 2012 and a goal of generating at least $100 billion annually by 2020 in balanced support for mitigation and adaptation actions.

Discussions continue towards reaching a global legally binding post-2012 climate agreement, perhaps in Mexico later this year. While supportive of the UN process and engaging in efforts to secure a positive outcome of the negotiations, ADB member countries are pushing ahead with their own cooperative climate change actions. This includes efforts to design and implement concrete mitigation and adaptation programs, build capacity, devise innovative financing mechanisms, and undertake other practical actions at the regional, national and sub-national levels in various sectors.

The seminar will discuss climate change issues of relevance to development and poverty reduction efforts in Asia and the Pacific, with special attention to the challenges faced by the countries of Central and West Asia. These topics will cover, among others, the adaptation and mitigation dimensions of water resources management, desertification, threats to mountain ecosystems and implications for hydropower development.

The speakers will briefly characterize their views as to the main climate change challenges in these sectors, and then suggest opportunities for devising practical solutions. Actions to be discussed will include, for example, adjustments to infrastructure plans and investments, capacity building, policy shifts, governance reforms, partnerships, and other responses. Panel members will discuss ongoing and prospective financing options to make these concrete measures a reality. In particular, they will provide their views as to how to implement the key measures agreed in the Copenhagen Accord, especially the targeted $100 billion in annual financial resources to be mobilized for developing countries by 2020.

PROGRAM/SPEAKERS

Hiroto Arakawa
Executive Director and Senior Special Advisor, Japan International Cooperation Agency

Timothy Geer
Director, Government and Aid Agency Relations, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

Prodipto Ghosh
Member, Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change, and former Secretary, Environment and Forests, Government of India
Presentation: Climate Change Finance: Thematic Overview [ PDF: 149kb, 15 pages ]

Irina Goryunova
Climate Change Program Manager, Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia

Jorge Karacsonyi
Manager, Sustainable Development Practice, Mercados EMI
Presentation: Financing Climate Change and Sustainable Development Action in Asia and the Pacific [ PDF: 198kb, 4 pages ]

Moderator:
Prannoy Roy
Chairman and Director of New Delhi (NDTV)

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Note: All times are in GMT+05. For inquiries, e-mail: annualmeeting@adb.org