ADB, UK Join to Strengthen Urban Areas Against Climate Change – EQ Mag Pro
GLASGOW, UNITED KINGDOM : The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has joined with the Government of the United Kingdom to launch the Urban Resilience Trust Fund (URTF), a partnership which aims to reduce risks from climate change through climate resilience planning and innovative urban projects.
The partnership was announced today at COP26 in Glasgow. The United Kingdom is contributing up to £70 million (around $100 million) to the URTF as the largest subprogram of its Climate Action for a Resilient Asia (CARA) program, a 7-year, £274 million effort to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities, economies, and the environment to the impacts of climate change and promote low-carbon growth across Asia and the Pacific.
“ADB is delighted to see our joint effort with the UK government on strengthening urban resilience being scaled up through the URTF under the new CARA program,” said ADB Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department Chief Sector Officer Robert Guild. “The URTF will continue the critical work of supporting fast-growing cities in Asia and the Pacific to reduce the risks the poor and vulnerable face from floods, storms, or droughts by helping to better plan and design infrastructure to weather these impacts from climate change.”
“Climate change does not respect borders. Countries across the Indo-Pacific region are on the frontlines of the climate crisis, with vulnerable communities threatened by rising seas, frequent typhoons, and drought,” said UK Minister for Asia Amanda Milling MP. “This major new support from the UK delivered through the ADB will benefit communities across the region, helping people to build greater resilience to the impacts of climate change.”
The URTF will build on the successful implementation of ADB’s Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund (UCCRTF), a $150 million multidonor trust fund with commitments from the Rockefeller Foundation and the governments of Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Since 2014, the UCCRTF has supported more than 2.8 million people living in 70 cities through more than 60 projects, particularly the poor and vulnerable in urban areas who are disproportionally exposed to the risks from climate change.
ADB recently elevated its ambition to deliver climate financing to its developing member countries to $100 billion from 2019–2030. ADB is also committed to ensuring at least 75% of the total number of its operations will support climate action.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.
Source : adb
