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| Paris alignment | Reasoning |
|---|---|
| Some progress | Energy access is stated as a priority in the ADB’s 2021 Energy Policy, and the Bank is involved in several targeted initiatives to this end (including the Asia–Pacific Hub of the SE4ALL initiative). Despite this, the ADB lacks a clearly defined minimum definition of access applied across its operations and does not have clear targets beyond the goal of “energy access for all”. Moreover, the Bank lacks a monitoring and reporting framework for tracking the contribution of its operations to energy access, making it difficult to assess progress. |
| Alignment and reasoning | |
| Energy Access Target | The ADB links its actions to the SDG7 goal of universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services by 2030, with the 2021 Energy Policy stating the Bank’s intent to pursue “the […] goal of energy access for all, including the 150 million people in Asia and the Pacific”. The ADB provides no concrete investment targets to achieve this. |
| Minimum Definition of Access | Despite evidence within its strategic documentation of considering availability, quality, affordability, and reliability for energy access, the ADB does not explicitly establish a consolidated working definition of energy access. |
| % of Energy Financing Dedicated to Energy Access | According to OCI data, energy access financing has fluctuated significantly over the past reporting decade. Most recently, while in 2018 and 2019 energy access represented only 1% of total energy financing, in 2020 this rose to 52%, before falling slightly to 35% in 2021. |
| Is Progress Monitored | While the Development Effectiveness Review previously measured new household connections to electricity (but not for new cooking fuels), this indicator has been absent since 2019. Consequently, the Bank has no public portfolio indicators specifically relating to energy access progress. |
| Progress against Metrics | From 2008 to 2018, new or improved electricity was delivered to over 22 million households. Since this indicator was removed, there is no more recent public data indicating progress on energy access. That being said, the ADB continued to head several initiatives centred around energy access in the Asia–Pacific region. Most recently this includes launching the GEAPP Energy Access and Transition Trust Fund. |
Energy access target and minimum definition of access
The ADB’s 2021 Energy Policy is centred around five principles, of which the first is “securing energy for a prosperous and inclusive Asia and the Pacific”. Within the document, the ADB also refers to its “ongoing commitment” to SDG7 (universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services by 2030) within its energy sector support.
The Bank’s energy policy recognises the Asia–Pacific region’s changing energy landscape, including a growing disparity in access (especially in remote areas). As a result, there is a strong focus on reaching remote populations through off-grid solutions such as mini-grids and battery storage, while also supporting the extension of national grids.
While the energy policy puts forth considerations of availability, quality, affordability and reliability for energy access, it does not explicitly set out a consolidated working definition of access. In this way, it falls short of best practice, as exemplified by the World Bank Group’s Multi-Tier Framework for Energy Access. Moreover, the policy does not set out any quantified targets related to energy access, in terms of either financing or outcomes.
Energy access progress
The ADB heads several initiatives centred around energy access in the Asia–Pacific region. In 2014, the Bank, in partnership with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), established the Asia–Pacific Hub of Sustainable Energy for All’s Global Initiative. The Hub collaborates with member countries to formulate country action plans on energy access. The ADB also hosts the Asia Pacific Energy Portal, a knowledge and analysis database, and the Sustainable Energy Centre of Excellence (SECOE), a multifunctional platform that serves to train, share, connect and develop knowledge – each with a focus area on energy access.
In April 2023, the ADB and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) announced the launch of a new capital fund: the GEAPP Energy Access and Transition Trust Fund. This fund is administered by the ADB, with an initial budget of USD 35 million. The fund will provide investments and policy reform assistance, and leverage blended finance to catalyse access to affordable and clean energy for poor and vulnerable populations.
The ADB orients country-level support for energy access under the relevant Country Partnership Strategy (CPS), which defines the Bank’s operational focus in a country.[1] This can include targeted support for energy access projects, with the ADB monitoring progress through its involvement in relevant access initiatives and direct country interaction.[2]
In terms of public monitoring and reporting, there is limited evidence of sufficiently granular and comprehensive tracking of the Bank’s progress on energy access. Its climate financing database does not provide a breakdown of investments according to sector, and accordingly any indication of whether or not an investment is supporting energy access.
Data from Oil Change International’s Public Finance for Energy Database suggests that the proportion of total energy financing dedicated to access has varied greatly over the past reporting decade. Per the most recent data available, while energy access only accounted for 1% of total energy financing in both 2018 and 2019, this rose significantly to 52% in 2020, before falling slightly to 35% in 2021.
In all ADB interventions in the energy sector, where relevant, increasing energy access is an indicator always included in the design and monitoring framework.[3] At the portfolio level, prior to 2019 the ADB’s Development Effectiveness Review included a metric dedicated to energy access: the number of new household(s) with connections to electricity. The Bank helped to bring new and improved connections to over 2.4 million households from 2009 to 2018.
While serving as a helpful barometer, a “new household connections” indicator alone cannot comprehensively capture progress on energy access, given its multidimensional nature.[4] Furthermore, following a 2019 update to the metrics included in the Development Effectiveness Review, energy-related indicators are limited to “installed renewable energy capacity”, which cannot be used to gauge progress on energy access in any meaningful sense. Notably, there is also no indication that any metric relating to access to clean cooking fuels has at any point featured in the Development Effectiveness Review.
Recommendations:
- Building on the energy policy’s existing consideration of the availability, quality, affordability and reliability components of energy access, the ADB should explicitly articulate a clear working definition of energy access. Doing so will enable the Bank to credibly assess, verify, and report its contribution to improving energy access through relevant operations. It could consider either using or drawing on the Multi-Tier Framework, which includes minimum benchmarks for reliability, competitiveness, and sustainability.
- Based on the definition adopted, the ADB should establish relevant indicators to assess and monitor its own contribution to energy access. These should be designed to reflect the specific challenges within the Asia–Pacific region and include metrics such as electrification affordability and sustainability. Interim targets would also enable the Bank to more effectively monitor progress towards the desired outcome. A good example of this are the indicators within the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Annual Development Effectiveness Review.
[1] Please see “Country level work” metric for full coverage.
[2] Information received directly from the ADB.
[3] Information received directly from the ADB.
[4] For example, as per the Multi-Tier Framework, access is made up of seven unique attributes: capacity, availability, reliability, quality, affordability, formality, and health and safety standards. “New household connections” does not provide any specificity to what degree each of these attributes is being delivered.
Last Update: April 2025