Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) have signed an Accreditation Master Agreement (AMA) that will allow ADB to apply for GCF funding for projects. Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), meanwhile, assisted Australian-Cambodian social enterprise ATEC Biodigesters (ATEC) complete a Series A round for waste-to-energy investments.
ADB, GCF tie up for climate financing in Asia
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) signed an Accreditation Master Agreement (AMA) that will enable ADB to access and administer new funding source to further increase its climate mitigation and adaptation efforts in Asia and the Pacific.
GCF, based in South Korea’s business district Songdo, works exclusively with accredited entities to support climate mitigation and adaptation projects and programs.
The AMA’s signing on Thursday is the conclusion of ADB’s accreditation process—approved in March 2015 — that enables ADB to apply for GCF funding for all sizes of projects, as well as all environmental and social risk categories. These funds would be in addition to ADB’s own commitment of providing climate financing of $6 billion per year by 2020.
ADB last July disclosed its own study indicating climate change could diminish the major achievements made during the past few decades in lifting large numbers of people living in the region out of poverty.
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ATEC seals Series A for waste-to-energy investments
ATEC Biodigesters (ATEC), an Australian-Cambodian social enterprise, has raised $700,000 in a Series-A equity round to expand its operations in Cambodia as well as to explore other international opportunities in the household waste-to-energy market.
ATEC raised investment with support from Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) through the award-winning ACTS (Acceleration for Capacity-building and Technical Services) program sponsored by USAID.
The program supports Impact Enterprises from across the region with technical assistance and an impact assessment, along with support throughout the capital raise process.
According to IIX, the funding round is bringing Australian and French investors together into the impact investment market in Asia.
A consortium of investors made the investment, led by Small Giants (Australia) and consisting of Fondation Ensemble (France), ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies (France) and one other private Australian investor. The investment round has then been matched with a further €250,000 in results-based-financing by EEP Mekong, a Government of Finland initiative.
ATEC’s unique household biodigester technology was founded and developed through a partnership of two Australian non-profits working in Cambodia, Engineers Without Borders Australia and Live and Learn Environmental Education, for specific application in seasonally-flooded countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar and Indonesia.
IIX claimed by installing a biodigester system, families in rural Cambodia utilize gas as a source of reliable and free energy, replacing traditional wood-burning cook stoves with a cleaner, healthier, and eco-friendly alternative.
“The system also produces a high-quality organic fertilizer that increases crop yield and can also be used as a substitute for chemical fertilizer. Combining these benefits, an average rural Cambodian family can save $260 per year,” IIX added.
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