The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has joined the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) to announce $35 million in funding to help boost energy access and the energy transition in South and Southeast Asia.
The contribution from GEAPP was formalised at a signing ceremony in Washington, DC, by ADB Managing Director General Woochong Um, GEAPP Chief Executive Officer Simon Harford, and GEAPP Chief Partnerships Officer Sundaa Bridgett-Jones, the Asian Development Bank said in a statement.
The funds will be earmarked for projects to improve energy access and support energy transition activities in ASEAN member states Indonesia and Vietnam, as well as in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.
The total funding of $35 million will be managed by ADB through the forthcoming GEAPP Energy Access and Transition Trust Fund (GEATTF).
GEAPP, launched by The Rockefeller Foundation at COP26 in 2021, aims to promote universal energy access and meeting critical climate goals. In addition to The Rockefeller Foundation, its initial funders are the IKEA Foundation and the Bezos Earth Fund. At COP26, ADB and The Rockefeller Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding for up to $100 million to support the bank’s work to combat climate change, accelerate the transition to clean energy, and end energy poverty.
“We welcome this support from GEAPP which will help ADB in two of our most important priorities as Asia and the Pacific’s climate bank,” ADB Managing Director General Woochong Um said.
“First, expanding clean energy for the 350 million people in our region who have either limited or no access to electricity. And second, catalyzing the transition from coal and other fossil fuels toward clean, affordable, and reliable energy sources.”