The climate investment and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) financing gap in Asia is enormous. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates that $1.7 trillion a year is needed for climate-adjusted infrastructure investments in developing Asian economies.
 
Multilateral development banks (MDBs) have risen to the challenge. ADB in particular is committed to ensuring that at least 75% of its operations (on a 3-year rolling average) will support climate change mitigation and/or adaptation by 2030, with climate finance from ADB’s own resources to reach its ambition of $100 billion cumulatively by 2030.
 
To achieve the needed mobilization of public and private financial capital at scale, however, a multi-pronged approach is necessary. A key plank is the greening of financial systems, and what financial regulators and supervisors should and can do to take the necessary measures to foster a greener financial system.

A well-functioning and vibrant financial system that is resilient to climate-related risks and able and willing to play its part in scaling up climate finance is a pre-condition to achieving low-carbon and climate-resilient development in developing countries in this region, in line with the Paris Agreement.

The Greening Financial Systems and the Role of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 17–18 May, will examine four themes key to greening financial systems. These are:

• What role could dedicated public green and climate banks —the so-called Green Investment Banks (GIBs)—play in this process;
• How to manage climate risks in the financial system;
• How to scale up climate finance and the transition to a low-carbon and resilient economy for its own good and also as a mitigant of climate risk; and
• How MDBs can support all these efforts, and more specifically support financial supervisors and regulators in the management of climate risks, catalyze private climate finance, and unleash their support for the creation of GIBs or help national financial institutions lead scaling up green investment in the region.

Featured speakers

• Ahmed Saeed, Vice-President (Operations 2) for East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific, ADB
• Woochong Um, Managing Director General, ADB
• Bruno Carrasco, Director General, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department, ADB
• Ulrich Volz, Professor in Economics, SOAS University of London
• Junkyu Lee, Chief of Finance Sector Group, ADB
• Bert Hunter, EVP and Chief Investment Officer, Connecticut Green Bank
• Adi Budiarso, Director for Center for Financial Sector, Ministry of Finance, Indonesia
• Fernando Restoy, Chair, Financial Stability Institute
• Chris Faint, Head, Climate Hub Division, Bank of England
• Bayarsaikhan Dembereldash, Chairman, Financial Regulatory Commission, Mongolia
• Satoshi Ikeda, Chief Sustainable Finance Officer, Financial Services Agency, Japan
• Awais Manzur Sumra, Special Secretary Finance, Ministry of Finance, Pakistan