The Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) aim to mobilise up to US$2 billion in mixed concessional and commercial capital to accelerate the energy transition in Asia.
With Asia’s growing energy demand driven by economic growth, demographic changes, and urbanisation, and with 85% of its energy derived from fossil fuels, there is an urgent need for a shift to renewable energy. To address this challenge and meet its development and emission reduction goals, Asia requires innovative financing mechanisms.
The ADB, GEAPP, and MAS have agreed to establish a blended finance partnership to accelerate energy transition at scale in Asia. This partnership will mobilise concessional capital from philanthropic and public sectors, de-risk projects, and crowd-in private capital from around the globe.
The key areas of focus include the early phase-out of coal assets, replacement with renewable energy, and decarbonisation projects in hard-to-abate sectors. This collaborative effort will deploy innovative and scalable financing structures to drive decarbonisation.
Part of the strategy includes the use of high-quality transition carbon credits to support the move from coal to renewable energy, in line with global standards such as the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) APAC guidelines.
ADB’s extensive network will provide transactional and technical support, policy guidance, and a pipeline of investable projects. Meanwhile, GEAPP will contribute its philanthropic capital and expertise in energy transitions and a coalition of committed partners .
MAS will engage Singapore’s financial ecosystem and provide policy support and work in developing high-integrity transition carbon credits via the Transition Credits Coalition (TRACTION).
“This financing partnership with MAS and GEAPP – two leading, like-minded partners – is a significant step towards attracting the requisite capital to phase out coal assets more quickly and replacing these with cleaner energy.
This partnership forms a critical alliance in our region’s battle against climate change,”
said ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa.
“Blended finance and carbon credits are key success factors for an effective and just energy transition in Asia. MAS is pleased that this energy transition acceleration finance partnership with ADB and GEAPP has both of these key components.
We encourage global philanthropies, development finance institutions, long term investors, banks and other financiers to join us in this public-private partnership to expand Asia’s access to clean energy, reduce greenhouse emissions and contribute to a more sustainable planet,”
said MAS Managing Director Ravi Menon.