Jun 23, 20184 min
President Jin
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank B9 Financial Street
Xicheng District
Beijing 10033
People’s Republic of China ljin@aiib.org
Copied to:
Mr. Chen Huan, Director of the Office of the President, chenhuan@aiib.org
Mr. Oliver Barron, Executive Officer, Office of the President, obarron@aiib.org Mr. Joachim Von Amsberg, Vice President, jvonamsberg@aiib.org
Dr. D.J. Pandian, Vice President, djpandian@aiib.org
Mr. Hamid Sharif, Director General, CEIU, hsharif@aiib.org
Mr. Yuanjing Sun, Principal Communications Officer, yuanjiang.sun@aiib.org
AIIB support for a Big Shift from fossils to sustainable renewable energy
Dear President Jin,
We are writing to urge the AIIB to take concrete steps to address the climate crisis, by shifting investments from harmful fossil fuels towards sustainable renewable energy and to support energy access for poor communities.
At the AIIB’s third AGM in Mumbai, India, the AIIB has an opportunity to lead the way in sending a strong signal to financial markets and other development finance actors that the era of fossil fuels is over.
As the world’s newest multilateral development bank, the AIIB is in a strong position to forge a new path post-Paris and live up to its commitments that its Energy Sector Strategy (ESS): “embraces, and is informed by, the principles underpinning SE4ALL, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Paris Agreement.”
At last year’s AGM in Jeju, civil society welcomed your comments that “there are no coal projects in our pipeline, and we will not consider any proposals if we are concerned about their environmental and reputational impact”. However, many expressed concern that the AIIB’s newly-agreed ESS failed to rule out AIIB support for coal and laid heavy emphasis on harmful gas and large hydro dams.
To date, the AIIB has funded several fossil fuel projects, including the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline, the Bhola IPP gas power plant in Bangladesh and the Myingyan gas power project in Myanmar. Worryingly, the AIIB has also taken its first step into coal. Through its investment in the IFC Emerging Asia Fund, the AIIB is indirectly financing increased use of coal, including the expansion of a coal mine, by the STC group in Myanmar. This latter investment raises significant concern, showing how investing through third parties, like infrastructure funds, can result in the AIIB funding coal and other harmful fossil fuels by the back door.
We call on you to ensure the AIIB lives up to its “green” promise by:
1. Ruling out coal
The AIIB should ensure none of its investments results in an increase in coal use: whether for power generation or industrial uses, and associated facilities such as transmission lines and railways or ports primarily meant for the transportation of coal. This includes closing loopholes in financial intermediary lending to ensure AIIB does not inadvertently fund coal indirectly.
2. Shifting from fossil fuels to sustainable renewable energy
The AIIB can send a strong signal to other development finance institutions and the financial sector by matching the World Bank's recent commitment to end financing for upstream oil and gas, establishing a plan to phase out remaining investment in harmful fossil fuels by 2020, and shifting its investments to sustainable renewable energy. This should exclude support for large hydro dams which cause extensive social and environmental harms.
3. Investing in energy access
Evidence shows that the biggest challenge for reaching SE4ALL/SDG 7 by 2030 is not necessarily generating much greater amounts of energy; it is getting it to those who need it most. The AIIB has committed to support clients to achieve SDG 7 on universal access to modern energy and recognised both the persistence of cooking poverty in the region and the financing gap to reach SDG 7. In line with this, the AIIB should scale up support for decentralised renewable electricity, clean cooking solutions and innovative business models needed to provide access and control for ‘last mile’ communities. This includes considering concessional or grant-based facilities.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Yours sincerely
Rayyan Hassan, NGO Forum on ADB
Other signatories:
Abibiman Foundation, Ghana
Alyansa Tigil Mina (Alliance to Stop Mining-Philippines)
Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development
Asociacion Ambiente y Sociedad, Colombia
Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA)
Bank Information Center Europe
Bank Information Center
BankTrack
Beyond Copenhagen Collective
Big Shift Global
Both Ends
Bretton Woods Project, UK
Brot für die Welt (Bread for the World, Germany)
Buliisa Initiative for Rural Development Organisation (BIRUDO) Uganda
CAFOD
CEE Bankwatch Network
Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
Centar Za Zivotnu Sredinu (Center for Environment)
Bosnia & Herzegovina Centre for Financial Accountability, India
Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD), Mongolia
CHANGE, Vietnam
Christian Aid
CLEAN (Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network)
Bangladesh Community Empowerment and Social Justice Foundation (CEmSoJ)
Nepal Conectas Human Rights
Delhi Forum
Delhi Solidarity Group
E3G
Environics Trust
Focus Association for Sustainable Development, Slovenia
Friends of the Earth US
Gender Action
Global Responsibility, Austria
Human Rights Council, Ethiopia
Inclusive Development International
International Accountability Project
International Rivers
Jamaa Resource Initiatives, Kenya
Jubilee Scotland
Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center, Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friends of the Earth Philippines
Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan, India
mines, minerals and PEOPLE, India
Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ)
Oil Change International
OT Watch
Rivers without Boundaries-Mongolia
Oxfam
Rivers Without Boundaries International Coalition
Srijan Lokhi Samiti, India
Tearfund
Theera Desha Mahila Vedi, India
The Research Collective, India
Umeedenoo, Pakistan
Urgewald, Germany
Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (WALHI)
World Future Council
350.org Australia
Download letter here.