Fast-tracked ADB Energy Policy Review threatens climate goals and human rights

Manila, Philippines — Civil society groups across Asia and the Pacific have condemned the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) 2025 Energy Policy Review as a rushed, opaque, and dangerous process that could lock the region into decades of fossil fuel dependence and destructive false solutions.

Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), Freedom from Debt Coalition, Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC), Nuclear/Coal-Free Bataan Movement, 350 Pilipinas, Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), Coalition for Human Rights in Development (CHRD), Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) – Asia Pacific, NGO Forum on ADB, and Recourse — warns that the review’s fast-tracked schedule undermines meaningful consultation with affected communities and violates ADB’s own transparency standards.

Originally slated for completion in early 2026, the review is now set to conclude by September 2025. Key documents were only released on July 30 — halfway through the process — giving stakeholders scant time to review and respond.

“ADB is treading on a slippery slope as it intends to finance more extractivism at the expense of biodiversity, water resources, and land rights,” said Jaybee Garganera of ATM. “Mining of nickel and copper will create ‘sacrifice zones’ in fragile island ecosystems and Indigenous territories — greenwashed under the guise of climate action.”

Nuclear Risks and Debt Burdens

One of the most alarming proposed changes is the lifting of ADB’s ban on nuclear financing — a move that civil society says ignores decades of unresolved safety, waste management, and cost issues.

“We strongly oppose ADB’s attempt to normalize nuclear energy as a viable solution,” said the Nuclear/Coal-Free Bataan Movement. “The BNPP is a monument to failed energy policy and corporate recklessness. Reviving nuclear financing will only deepen debt, displace communities, and expose generations to irreversible harm.”

Lidy Nacpil of APMDD added, “Nuclear energy and retrofitting existing fossil fuel plants are dangerous distractions and totally unacceptable — especially at a time when renewables have become affordable, increasingly scalable and widely adopted. ADB is steering the region deeper into the climate crisis. Communities across Asia need a fast, fair, funded, and feminist just transition — not an energy policy that props up the very systems driving the climate crisis and locks us into decades more emissions, debt, and harm.”

Critical Minerals and ‘Green Extractivism’

The review also promotes large-scale extraction of so-called “critical minerals” such as nickel and copper, essential for certain clean energy technologies, but often sourced through environmentally destructive and rights-violating mining projects.

“With critical minerals, the ADB has found a cover for embracing mining again,” said Maya Quirino of LRC. “A wholesale promotion of transition mining without a deeper look at how poor communities will be affected is just green extractivism. The world’s need for energy must be recalibrated before opening up ecosystems for minerals.”

Fossil Fuel Loopholes and Bailouts

Another deeply problematic shift is the proposal to expand the Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) to cover oil and gas, which campaigners warn could become a fossil fuel bailout scheme that rewards polluters while saddling the public with debt.

“If there is one thing the ADB is good at, it is downplaying critical bank policies that come with a high cost both to countries and their people,” said Elle Bartolome of PMCJ. “This process is being railroaded to protect the Bank’s fossil fuel investments and distract from its support for planet-killing energy sources. Communities around coal plants in Zambales and Cebu already know the human cost of ADB’s choices.”

The policy also continues to frame fossil gas as a “transition fuel,” despite climate science warning that new gas infrastructure is incompatible with 1.5°C pathways.

False Solutions, Waste-to-Energy, and Delayed ActionThe draft amendments promote other so-called solutions — including co-firing fossil plants with ammonia or hydrogen, carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS), and waste-to-energy (WtE) incineration — that campaigners say prolong fossil infrastructure, divert resources, and harm communities.

Mayang Azurin of GAIA Asia Pacific warned, “It’s heinous for ADB to continue investing in waste-to-energy incineration. It is a climate-intensive, polluting, and costly technology. Instead of burning resources that could be conserved, reused, or safely recycled, the Bank is locking communities into toxic, expensive systems. Our recent air quality monitoring around waste burning facilities in Surabaya and Dumaguete revealed particulate matter emissions exceeding international thresholds by 100%, leading to the closure of a plant in Dumaguete. ADB must declare an immediate phase-out from WtE.”

“Energy Policy Review for this year, rushed by the ADB, only shows how corporate interests are being put on the pedestal over people and the planet,” said Nazareth Del Pilar of NGO Forum on ADB. “Instead of closing gaps in its policy, the Bank is slipping in dangerous provisions that deepen debt, sideline human rights, and abandon justice-centered solutions.”

Demands to the ADB

CSOs are calling on the ADB to -

• Extend the review timeline to 2026 to allow genuine consultations.

• Abandon false solutions such as nuclear power, CCUS, co-firing, expanded mineral extraction, and WtE incineration.

• Commit to a time-bound phaseout of fossil fuels, including fossil gas, across all financing modalities.

• Embed strong human rights safeguards — including Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) and robust accountability — in all energy financing.

• Ensure full transparency in all financial intermediary lending and close backdoor support for fossil fuels.

“Fast-tracking weak policies wastes the precious time we have left to reverse the climate crisis,” said Chuck Baclagon, from 350 Pilipinas. “Without genuine consultation with communities whose lives and livelihoods are at stake, there can be no real climate justice.”

Appendix of Quotes

Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM)

The ADB is treading on a slippery slope as it intends to finance more extractivism at the expense of biodiversity, water resources and land rights. Mining of critical minerals such as nickel and copper will potentially create ‘sacrifice zones’ – where governments and mining corporations sacrifice fragile island ecosystems, critical watersheds, and Indigenous Peoples’ and the community’s human rights for what is conveniently touted as the ‘greater good.’

But, CM2CET and ‘Climate Smart Mining’ are a mere rebranding strategy to downplay the destructive impacts of mining. Similar to the concept of ‘responsible mining’, these new buzz words are meant to gain social acceptability for expanded mining operations to purportedly provide critical minerals in the ‘clean energy’ transition. 

• Jaybee Garganera, National Coordinator, Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM)

Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC)

With critical minerals, the ADB has found a cover for embracing mining again. Transition minerals like nickel and copper are mostly found in the Global South. A wholesale promotion of transition mining without a deeper look at how poor communities will be affected, how the environment suffers–that is just ‘green extractivism’. The world’s need for and use of energy must first be recalibrated before opening up ecosystems for minerals. 

• Maya Quirino, associate executive director and advocacy coordinator, Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center 

Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ)

If there is one thing the ADB is good at, it is to downplay critical bank policies that come with a high cost both to countries and their people. To set things straight, the ADB Energy Policy Review is not a minor assessment of its four-year-old policy. Railroading this process is unacceptable.

Not only does it lack transparency and proper community consultation, but it also serves as a distraction from the ADB's wanton support for planet-killing energy sources. These false solutions require a significant investment of time and resources, which only seems beneficial to them because it prolongs the worldwide dependence on fossil fuels and the large profits that come along with it. They willingly choose this path despite knowing that these solutions ultimately leave the world worse off.

The communities surrounding coal plants in Zambales and Cebu have suffered as a result of the financing of these plants in the Philippines. This is ADB’s reputation in our country, and the energy policy review will continue to fuel the same crisis they have started.

• Elle Bartolome; Senior Executive Officer for Policy, Campaigns, and Communications

350 Pilipinas

We need urgent climate action, but it must power a future worth living in. That means an energy policy that delivers renewable energy at a scale that meets the real power demands of communities—driving development while cutting emissions. Anything less risks trapping us in an obsolete fossil-fueled status quo. Fast-tracking weak policies wastes the precious time we have left to reverse the climate crisis. We draw the line at speed without ambition—and without genuine consultation with the communities whose lives and livelihoods are at stake, there can be no real climate justice.

• Chuck Baclagon, Regional Finance Campaigner 

Nuclear/Coal-Free Bataan Movement

We strongly oppose ADB’s attempt to normalize nuclear energy as a viable solution. The BNPP is not a symbol of progress—it is a monument to failed energy policy and corporate recklessness. Reviving nuclear financing will only deepen debt, displace communities, and expose generations to irreversible harm. Our community-led study shows that renewable energy is not only safer—it is what our people want. We call on ADB to listen to the voices of Bataan and Filipinos in general and reject nuclear energy in all forms.” 

• Nuclear/Coal-Free Bataan Movement

Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development

We are alarmed by the proposed amendments, especially on removing the prohibition on nuclear financing.  We strongly oppose this and the proposal to retrofit existing coal and gas plants with co-firing ammonia, biofuels and hydrogen. Nuclear energy and retrofitting existing fossil fuel plants are dangerous distractions and totally unacceptable especially at a time when renewables have become affordable, increasingly scalable and widely adopted. ADB is steering the region deeper into the climate crisis. Communities across Asia need a fast, fair, funded, and feminist just transition — not an energy policy that props up the very systems driving the climate crisis and locks us into decades more emissions, debt, and harm.

• Lidy Nacpil, Coordinator

Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives 

 It’s heinous for ADB to continue investing in Waste-to-Energy (WTE) incineration. It is a climate-intensive, polluting and costly technology. There is already intense pressure on the region’s natural and material resources. The need to reduce unsustainable production and to keep materials as long as possible should be the Bank’s interest. However, ADB is burning all these resources that could have been conserved, reused and safely recycled for “clean energy”.  There is a growing number of city officials who have rejected WTE incinerators in Baguio, Mapo-gu and Te  Awamutu while communities are fighting in various parts of the region. Our recent study on air quality monitoring around waste burning facilities in Surabaya and Dumaguete revealed that the emission limits have exceeded the international thresholds by 100% for particulate matter emissions which led to the closure of a WTE incineration plant in Dumaguete. IFC and AIIB have also terminated some of their WTE projects.  ADB must declare an immediate phase-out from WTE . 

• Mayang Azurin, GAIA AP Deputy Director for Campaigns

NGO Forum on ADB

Energy Policy Review for this year, rushed by the ADB, only shows how corporate interests are being put on the pedestal over people and the planet. Instead of closing the gaps in the existing policy, the Bank worsens its already glaring energy investment portfolio by slipping through dangerous provisions, including nuclear energy, critical minerals mining, co-firing technologies, and ETM scope expansion to oil and gas plants: risky detours from achieving its climate obligations. Notably, ADB is one of the largest financiers in Asia and the Pacific, and this policy move is a grave disconnect from how it positions itself in climate action. In such volatile times, with the region facing multiple crises on political, economic, and climate fronts, charting this path is a moral hazard and highly unacceptable. It will only deepen debt, sideline human rights, and abandon justice-centered solutions.

• Nazareth Del Pilar, Just Transitions Advocacy Officer