AFD, ADB signed grant cofinancing for Nature Solutions Finance Hub

Bangkok, Thailand (June 25th, 2024) - The French Development Agency (AFD) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed an agreement on AFD's €1 million grant contribution to support the Nature Solutions Finance Hub for Asia and the Pacific (NSFH), managed by ADB, to support the development of project pipelines, capacity building, and financial instruments for Nature-based Solutions (NbS) across Asia and the Pacific.

The signing took place on the sidelines of the Sustainable Finance in the Indo-Pacific (SUFIP) 2024 Conference, which was jointly hosted by the AFD and ADB, in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Chulalongkorn University on 24-25 June 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand. The Conference, organized in a hybrid format, attracted more than 400 participants from 15 countries, who gathered to discuss challenges and solutions for financing climate adaptation, nature-based solutions, disaster risk management, and innovative financing mechanisms.

According to the 2022 Bali Agenda for Resilience, only 50% of countries in the Indo-Pacific region had adequate and accessible disaster risk information. By 2050, climate change will directly impact 80% of the Indo-Pacific population. Exposure to rising sea levels, extreme heat and precipitation events, and tropical cyclone winds will endanger lives, capital, and critical infrastructure.

Highlighting the importance of collaboration and innovation, Bertrand Walckenaer, AFD's Deputy CEO, emphasized the critical need for comprehensive strategies to enhance climate resilience. "It is a challenge that has to be addressed by public authorities, together with researchers, private partners, and public development institutions, said Bertrand Walckenaer. We need bankable projects, we need relevant financial instruments, and we can provide expertise to bring those solutions forward."

The key role of culture in the resilience agenda was also underlined: "The importance of cultural heritage in infrastructure projects is key to AFD and ADB's DNA. Development Finance needs to be innovative, catalytic, targeted, and replicable to support sustainability in the battle against climate change. While we have seen progress in tapping private capital for climate resilience, many areas remain critically underinvested, said Scott Morris, ADB vice-president for East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific. ADB's launch of the NFSH at COP 28 in Dubai, and the signing of the cofinancing agreement for the NSFH with the AFD today, marks an important step forward in addressing areas such as biodiversity, rural development, natural resources, oceans and forests."

This year's conference builds on the success of the first SUFIP conference in Paris in 2022, building on the momentum to explore new tools and innovative partnerships, innovative financing modalities aimed at strengthening resilience, including NbS projects in the region.

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