These bonds will refinance existing debt facilities of SPPC and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), which owns 60 percent of SPPC. The company also announced that bonds were subscribed 1.8 times with local, regional and international investors, and placed total orders worth $1.26 billion.

Reports also stated that Noor Abu Dhabi generates 881MW of alternating current, which is sold to state-owned Emirates Water & Electricity Company (EWEC) and comes under a power purchase agreement through 2049. EWEC is fully owned by Abu Dhabi state-owned holding company ADQ. The bonds were arranged and offered through a group of joint managers and bookrunners comprising of Citi, HSBC, MUFG, BNP Paribas, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) and SMBC Nikko.

HE Abdullah Ali Musleh Al Ahbabi, Chairman, ADWEA, told the media, “This financial closing is the culmination of 18 months of hard work, determination and commitment from many people, from multiple Abu Dhabi Government stakeholders, the international PV investor market, the international and local lending community and related advisors.”

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ADB Vice-President Stephen Groff made this announcement as ADB signed two agreements: first with the Government of Fiji for a $42 million loan to improve water and sanitation services to over 300,000 people in the greater Suva area, while ensuring that critical infrastructures are climate resilient. Second is with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for a $31 million grant to the country through ADB.

Apart from Mr. Groff, signatories for the two agreements were Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Attorney-General and Minister for Economy and Climate Change for Fiji, and Howard Bamsey, GCF Executive Director. The agreements were signed during the climate change discussions in Fiji in the lead up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 23), which Fiji will chair.

“ADB has been supporting Fiji to improve water and sanitation for more than 20 years,” said Mr. Groff. “With this new investment, we expect to assist Fiji expand water supply by 40,000 cubic meters per day, ensure 98% of households in Suva have access to clean water, and expand the sanitation network for additional 4,500 households to access reticulated sewerage by 2023.”

“This project aims to improve access to sustainable water supply and sewerage services to Fijians in the greater Suva area, taking into account the increasing population and the need for more resilient infrastructure. Fiji appreciates the financial and technical assistance provided by ADB and GCF and thanks them for recognizing the importance of this project,” said Mr. Sayed-Khaiyum. “Access to financing for such projects, which consider adaptation and the effects of climate change, is a key objective for Fiji’s Presidency of COP 23.”

“GCF financing will assist Fiji move the main water intake for Suva upstream to respond to increasing salt water intrusion,” said Mr. Bamsey. “GCF is pleased to have now approved almost $280 million of investments for Pacific island countries, including investments in the Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.”

The Fiji Urban Water Supply and Wastewater Management Investment Program was among the first group of projects approved by the GCF Board at its meeting in Zambia in 2015. The investment will also be cofinanced by the European Investment Bank.

During his visit to Fiji, Mr. Groff met with Fiji Prime Minister Bainimarama and Australia’s Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells.

The post ADB to double climate financing for the Pacific in 2017-2020 appeared first on International Finance.

Of this total, $21.2 billion or 77 percent was dedicated to climate mitigation finance, with the remaining 23 percent devoted to climate adaptation.

Combined with additional co-financing from other investors, the total amount of finance mobilized for climate action reached $65.3 billion last year.

The MDBs have reported jointly on climate finance since 2011. Collectively, the banks have committed over $158 billion in climate finance during the past six years.

The latest MDB climate finance figures are detailed in the 2016 Joint Report on Multilateral Development Banks’ Climate Finance, combining data from the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank Group, and the World Bank Group.

Broken down by region, the largest share of last year’s MDB climate finance went to South Asia, with 20 percent, followed by East Asia and the Pacific and non-EU Europe and Central Asia, with 19 and 18 percent, respectively. The Middle East and North Africa at 9 percent and Sub-Saharan Africa at 7 percent received the least climate finance.

The MDBs also reported again on climate finance according to financial instrument. The vast majority of finance, 73 percent, was provided in the form of investment loans.

The MDBs’ methodologies for climate finance tracking align with the Common Principles for Climate Change Mitigation Finance Tracking, jointly agreed by the MDBs and by the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) and first published in March 2015.

The MDBs and the IDFC agreed on the Common Principles for Climate Adaptation Finance Tracking in July 2015.  The MDBs and the IDFC have begun taking the next steps to harmonize their approaches in tracking adaptation finance.

The MDBs are continuing to work to update their joint tracking methodologies for mitigation and adaptation, to support the goals of the Paris Agreement, playing a key role in defining the finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate resilient development.

“The World Bank Group is actively helping countries and companies around the world to reduce emissions, prepare for the impacts of climate change, scale up climate-smart investments, and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement,” said World Bank Senior Director for Climate Change, John Roome. “2016 was another year of strong climate action for the Bank Group.  Since the beginning of that year, the Bank Group has undertaken renewable energy projects representing 10 gigawatts of generation capacity, and 10 new operations that when in place will improve the climate resilience of over 50 million people.”

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