Policy Dialogue with CSOs 1: Challenging Ways Forward: Asserting Communities' Considerations on Just Transition

Event: The 56th ADB Annual Meeting: Civil Society Program

Policy Dialogue with CSOs 1: Challenging Ways Forward: Asserting Communities' Considerations on Just Transition

02 May 2023

by NGO Forum on ADB, Asian People’s Movement for Debt and Development, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives – Asia Pacific, and Indus Consortium.

In his opening remarks, ADB Vice President for East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Ahmed Saeed highlighted that ensuring sustainable energy and development in the region cannot happen until it is just. He confirmed that more than mobilizing financing, knowledge, and collaboration with a range of actors to ensure sustainable and clean energy, ADB is doing purposeful work toward just transition.

Panelists representing civil society organizations (CSOs) from Pakistan, the Philippines, and all over Asia emphasized the impacts of coal-powered projects on communities, the importance of seeking their inputs into ADB’s Energy Transition Mechanism and ensuring full disclosure of information in local languages, and public participation about these initiatives. They recommended that ADB strictly aligns with the 1.5C trajectory and move investments away from fossil fuel-dependent infrastructure and waste-to-energy incineration. They also highlighted that just transition requires grant financing and should not add to developing member countries’ debt burden. They further raised concern about community members being threatened with reprisals when they raise questions about ADB-supported projects.

VP Saeed identified common ground with CSOs in the areas of ensuring just transition and protecting human rights. ADB’s climate change director Noelle O’Brien further cited that support for just transition will be applied not only at the asset level but also at the country framework levels. On the other hand, ADB’s safeguards director Bruce Dunn confirmed that ensuring timely stakeholder engagement and safe space in consultations are currently covered in the ADB’s safeguard policy, which will be made more explicit in the forthcoming policy update.

CSO Panelists:

Miriam Azurin, Deputy Director - Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) - Asia Pacific
Tanya Lee Roberts-Davis, Just Transitions Advocacy Coordinator, NGO Forum on ADB
Lidy Nacpil, Coordinator, Asian People’s Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD)
Fiza Qureshi, Manager Program Implementation, Indus Consortium
Isabel Patricia Soresca, Transformative Finance Lead and Renewable Energy and Climate Lead, Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED)

ADB Panelist: Ahmed Saeed, Vice-President for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific

Moderator: Rayyan Hassan, Executive Director, NGO Forum on ADB

Type of Content:

Learning Event

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