TBILISI, Georgia, May 4. Rich countries must improve their commitments to achieve real results at COP29, ADB Special Advisor on Climate Change Warren Evans told Trend on the sidelines of the ADB annual meeting in Tbilisi today.
"There are two things that need to happen. Firstly, wealthier countries need to take the initiative - not only to fulfill their commitments but to enhance them. This is a very clear political issue, but it's precisely what the CS is dealing with. Secondly, what we need is to become much more innovative in how we attract private capital. So, the ADB is doing a lot of work. We have what we call the Climate Finance Innovation Mechanism in the Asia-Pacific region, which utilizes guarantees from donor countries to sharply leverage these guarantees to increase climate finance. Therefore, we need many more innovative approaches like this to mobilize private capital," he said.
The theme of the 57th annual meeting, scheduled for May 2 to 5, is "Bridge to the Future".
The annual meeting provides ADB governors with the opportunity to discuss development issues and challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region. Several thousand participants regularly attend the meeting, including finance ministers, central bank governors, high-ranking government officials, representatives of the private sector, international organizations, civil society organizations, youth, academia, and the media.