On 25 July, ADB Managing Director General Woochong Um and Climate Change and Sustainable Department (CCSD) Director General Bruno Carrasco hosted a luncheon reception for officials from BirdLife International—one of ADB’s key partners in the Regional Flyway Initiative, along with the East Asian-Australian Flyway Partnership. Following the reception, BirdLife International CEO Martin Harper joined a panel of experts to discuss how civil society organizations can effectively partner with ADB to address the urgent ecological challenges in the region, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

Read more: ADB, BirdLife International Affirm Commitment to Protect and Sustainably Manage Biodiversity in Asia and the Pacific

During the event titled Civil Society and ADB: BirdLife International – A Strategic Partnership on the Regional Flyway Initiative and Beyond, Mr. Harper described how BirdLife International leveraged its technical expertise and network of local partners to forge a partnership with ADB in mobilizing $3 billion in financing for East Asian-Australasian Flyway wetland conservation to benefit 200 million people and 50 million migratory waterbirds. He stressed the importance of retaining the energy from project development to implementation to achieve ambitious goals, adding that this project has inspired other development organizations to do more to conserve and sustainably manage other major flyways.

Climate Change, Resilience, and Environment (CCRE) Director Yoko Watanabe, NGOC Unit Head Haidy Ear-Dupuy, and Senior Environment Specialist Duncan Lang lauded BirdLife International’s partnership with ADB which can serve as a model for future collaborations between ADB and other civic organizations. They highlighted ADB's efforts to increasingly open its policy, operational, and knowledge-sharing activities to civil society participation, and the forthcoming operational approach to civil society engagement and environmental action plan. Panelists from the Office of the Compliance Review Panel, Office of Safeguards, and Sectors Group also shared insights on civil society’s important role in the development agenda and how it helps improve ADB’s development effectiveness.

Watch the full recording below: