Decarbonzing Asia

Hemantha Withanage

SRI LANKA
The views expressed in these presentations are the views of the
author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the
Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Directors or the
governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the source,
originality, accuracy, completeness or reliability of any statement,
information, data, finding, interpretation, advice, opinion, or view
presented, nor does it make any representation concerning the
same.
Tropical cyclones in the
Northwest Pacific Ocean from
1980 to 2005
Mae Moh Coal Power Plant-
Thailand- 352 USD Million
ADB loan
Mae Moh Coal Power Plant-
Thailand People suffering
from Respiratory Problems
Tata Mundra Coal power The ADB
Plant- India contributed
$450million to
the 4000
megawatt coal
fired power
plant, which
was justified by
MDB lenders as
the most
energy efficient
coal power
plant in the
country.
 ADB and Climate
Change
Asia is home to 4.4 billion people and more than 30,000 small
islands

The present that economic growth is not sustainable unless it

is environmentally sustainable, and that environmental
degradation and climate change present fundamental
challenges to their vision of eliminating poverty in the Asia
Pacific by 2020

Their 2009 Energy Policy states that within Southeast Asia, and
in the Pacific islands, many natural ecosystems are vulnerable
to climate change and some will probably be irreversibly
damaged.

The poorest people within the large populations of both sub-

Saharan Africa and South Asia are most vulnerable to the
effects of climate change.
 ADB and Coal power
Between the years 1994-2012 ADB have been the third largest
international public financier of coal fired power plants, investing
$3.9million in 21 projects.
Despite the disapproval of many of its key shareholders, in 2013, the
ADB approved the $900 million Jamshoro coal fired power plant, a
600MW station in Sindh, Pakistan.
It has also put forward $120 million for the development of the Naga
coal fired power plant complex in the Philippines, which involves
multiple power stations, and has been met with opposition by
community and environment groups.
The most controversial has been the ADBs $450 million investment
in the 4,000-megawatt Tata Mundra Ultra Mega Coal plant in the
Indian state of Gujarat.

The ADBs own compliance review panel found that a lack of

consultation with local communities, as well as a failure of
compliance with waste and pollution management strategies
resulted in significant harm to the local environment and damage
to local communities health and livelihoods.
 Asia Energy demand
ADB projected energy demands, expects
more than double between 2010 and
2035, reaching 16,169 terawatt-hours or
Half of the worlds global energy
consumption by 2035.
By then, Asia will also be responsible for
almost half of all global carbon emissions,
35 % higher than current emissions.
 Asia carbon budget
If all
Rremaini
Rremaini
Just
If all
ng global planne
emission factoring
Accordi in these d
s budget
ng to thermal thermal
to limit
the coal coal Japan
warming
to below IEAs power power alread
1.5C is stations y have
2C currently station
630 Gt budget s go a
CO22. under
s, India construct ahead, negati
The Asia and ion, India this ve
is and
reaching China figure carbo
China will
its can reach reaches n
remainin emit 169 Gt a
g carbon 108Gt CO22 an stagger budge
budget CO22 by overshoo ing t.
earlier t of more
than 2050. 196Gt
than CO22 by
expected 50%.
. 2050.
 Climate refugees
Extreme environmental events are increasingly
recognized as a key driver of migration across the
world.According to the Internal Displacement
MonitoringCentre, more than 42 million people were
displacedin Asia and the Pacific during 2010 and
2011, morethan twice the population of Sri Lanka.

This figureincludes those displaced by storms,

floods, and heatand cold waves. Still others were
displaced drought and sea-level rise. Most of those
compelled to leave their homes eventually returned
when conditions improved, but an undetermined
number became migrants, usually within their
country, but alsoacross national borders.

https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publi
cation/29662/addressing-climate-change-migrat
 Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific call on the
To ADB: To review
priorities the impacts
the To use
To their
of oil, gas
STOP developme and
nt and profile
fundin unconventio
establishm to lobby
nal gas
g any ent of other
projects on
future sustainabl finance
local
COAL e instituti
communities
renewable ons in
mine the Asia
and the
or coal energy climate, and
projects Pacific
fired to STOP
and region
projects that
power promote to rule
has
station community out
environment
project energy funding
al
of coal
s; and projects
degradation
energy and climate
efficiency change.