ADB launches programme to boost community resilience in Asia

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) joined Monday at COP26 with the government of the United Kingdom and the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) to launch the Community Resilience Partnership Program (CRPP).

The programme aims to strengthen climate resilience for local communities, including for women and girls, by scaling up climate adaptation measures in Asia and the Pacific.

The CRPP will support local climate adaptation measures that are aligned with ADB’s developing member countries’ (DMCs) respective nationally determined contributions, adaptation plans, and disaster risk reduction plans, and focus on poor and vulnerable populations.

The government of the United Kingdom (UK) is providing US$61 million and the NDF US $6.9 million, said an ADB press release.

“Even before the Covid-19 pandemic affected economies globally, the poor and vulnerable were already the hardest hit by climate change,” said ADB Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development Bambang Susantono.

“As Asia and the Pacific’s climate bank, ADB recognizes that it is critical to strengthen climate policies and plans in support of local investments in climate adaptation that directly meet the priorities of the

poor and vulnerable. The CRPP is critical for helping countries scale up these investments at the local level and will support ADB to achieve our climate adaptation ambitions.” added Susantono.

“Locally led adaptation is crucial to building resilience across the poorest and most climate-vulnerable communities,” said UK International Champion on Adaptation and Resilience for the COP26 Presidency and Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan.

“That’s why the UK is committing US $61 million of funding to this program, which will play a vital role in ensuring communities, and in particular women, get access to the finance and support they need to build resilience in their communities and advance gender equality, such as by strengthening climate-resilient housing initiatives and disaster preparedness.” added Trevelyan.

The CRPP will provide long-term sustainable support to scale up climate adaptation measures that address climate, poverty, and gender challenges. The program is designed for implementation over a 10-year period from 2021 to 2031.