The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Canadian government launched a $255-million US dollar fund to mitigate climate change and promote gender equality in Asia and the Pacific.

Canada will fund private firms for project investments and for technical assistance to help achieve the project’s goal under the Canadian Climate and Nature Fund for Private Sector in Asia (CANPA).

CANPA supports projects with low carbon emissions and socioeconomic opportunities for women.

“CANPA will help accelerate the region’s transition to low carbon and climate-resilient growth by lowering financing risks and making projects more commercially bankable, with a specific emphasis on empowering women and girls,” ADB vice president for market solutions Bhargav Dasgupta said.

Half of global emission

ADB’s research shows Asia and the Pacific contributes more than half of the world’s carbon emissions. It adds 60 percent of the regional population work in sectors that are highly vulnerable to climate change.

ADB said making growth in agriculture and aquaculture more sustainable will be critical.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said Filipino farmers could see 15 to 20 percent lower agricultural production in a decade if climate change worsens, leading to extreme weather conditions.

The IPCC said the Philippines already lost P673.3 billion in various types of damage from stronger typhoons from 2011 to 2021.