ADB urged anew to ditch ‘dirty’ fossil fuel projects
IF the region will meet the targets set under the Paris Climate accord, countries should avoid gas, which is considered to be a “false solution,” according to civil society organizations.
The Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) and Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD) said multilateral development institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) should do better in terms of financing renewables instead of projects such as fossil gas financing.
This, PMCJ said, includes gas transmission and distribution pipelines, LNG terminals, storage facilities, gas-fired power plants, gas for heating and cooking, and midstream and downstream gas and oil projects subject to conditions.
“Gas is a false solution to meet the energy needs of ADB developing member countries. It is not a transition fuel, and investing in it will hinder, rather than hasten the shift to reliance on non-resource-intensive, sustainable renewable energy. CCUS technologies, large-scale dams, and waste-to-energy incineration are also false solutions to the climate crisis,” PMCJ National Coordinator Ian Rivera said.
APMDD said among multilateral development banks, ADB stands out as one of the biggest lenders to the region’s fossil fuel-dominated energy sector.
From 2009 to 2019, it poured $42.5 billion into the sector with sovereign loans, grants and technical assistance accounting for three-fourths of the total ($32.1 billion) and the rest financing non-sovereign (private sector) projects.
The Manila-based multilateral development bank has also spent over $4.7 billion on gas since the adoption of the Paris Agreement. Its gas finance accounts for over 96 percent of its fossil fuel financing from 2016 to 2020.
“We demand a just transition to 100 percent renewable energy before 2050. This will involve commitment from stakeholders like ACEF [Asia Clean Energy Forum] to align financing and policies to phase out fossil fuels and enable the accelerated deployment of renewable technologies,” APMDD Coordinator Lidy Nacpil said.
Nacpil said the conditions the policy laid out for supporting these projects do not guarantee a phase out of all fossil fuels in a timeline that is consistent with the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shows the need to stop carbon dioxide emissions globally by 2050 to keep global average temperature rise below 1.5°C and avoid a “catastrophic” climate change.
To keep global temperature rise within the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold, APMDD cited the IPCC report, adding the world would need to use about 95 percent less coal, 60 percent less oil, and 45 percent less gas in 2050.
“It is deplorable that the ADB continues to support fossil fuel projects. Here in the Philippines and the rest of Asia, the climate crisis is worsening. We are facing massive deaths and damage to communities and livelihoods if ADB and the ACEF clean energy community continues with business as usual,” said Flora Santos, President of Oriang Women’s Movement.
ACEF is one of the largest international events covering key aspects of clean energy promotion in Asia. High-level decision makers, investors, businesses and experts from Asia and throughout the world attend the event. It is hosted and co-organized annually by the ADB.
This will be the 17th ACEF since its inception in 2006 and it is happening from June 14 to 17. According to the ADB, “ACEF 2022 operationalizes ADB’S 2021 Energy Policy of promoting the low-carbon transition in the region while supporting universal access to reliable and affordable energy services.”