New Approaches Needed in the PRC on Green and Blue Finance, for Sustainable Growth, Webinar Told

New approaches are needed to generating green and blue finance and managing catastrophic risks in the wake of the global public health crisis and economic shocks created by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), participants at a webinar heard today.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) organized the webinar on Expanding Green Finance, Blue Finance, and Disaster Risk Financing for Innovative Operations to discuss key financial measures required to improve financial and economic resilience and sustainability in the wake of COVID-19, and identify innovative financial sector operations in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

This year marks the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan (FYP) in the PRC. As the country prepares to enter a potential new era of growth, it needs to continue its largely successful efforts in greening its production, lifestyles, and environment and building an ecological civilization, participants heard.

“We need to explore a new set of green and blue financing instruments, particularly in support of environmental sustainability, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and green transformation,” said ADB Director General for East Asia James P. Lynch introducing the webinar. “Discussions such as those we are having today will help us identify ways we can work together to help both propel and safeguard PRC’s ongoing social and economic achievements.”

In September 2020, the PRC’s President Xi Jinping made international commitments at the UN General Assembly for the PRC to peak CO2 emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. The communique for the 5th annual plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held on 29 October 2020 further highlighted that one of the objectives of the 14th FYP is to reduce carbon intensity to peak carbon emissions by 2030.

ADB’s new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS）with the PRC will begin next year and align in its time frame and core objectives with the 14th FYP. Mr. Lynch said that green development will feature prominently in the Strategy, and climate change resilience and environmental sustainability are expected to be central pillars.

“As the current ADB country partnership strategy with the PRC ends, we also want these discussions to generate practical ideas for even more innovative financial sector operations under the next CPS,” Mr. Lynch said.

The webinar used a hybrid approach with participants from government and academia from Beijing joining in situ at the Shang-ri La Hotel, and ADB staff joining online from Manila.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members – 49 from the region.