ADB okays assistance for climate adaptation in Central, West Asia

ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved technical assistance to operationalise the ‘Glaciers to Farms (G2F)’ regional programme, covering Pakistan and several Central and West Asian countries, as the region faces intensified climate disaster risks.

According to an ADB report, the support will back the Climate Action Roadmap through glacier monitoring, river basin planning and regional knowledge sharing. It will also help countries establish institutional and operational mechanisms, and prepare diagnostics, studies and capacity requirements needed to implement the programme.

The early ADB support ensures that the G2F programme seamlessly transitions into the implementation phase, minimising delays, strengthening readiness of proposed projects and enhancing the overall effectiveness and sustainability of the interventions in key sectors, including agriculture, health, social protection, and water, the report said.

Anchored by the ADB and aligned with Green Climate Fund (GCF) priorities, G2F mobilises up to $3.5 billion in public and private finance, including $325 million in GCF concessional support, to build resilience from glacier to farmland.

$3.5bn regional initiative targets glacier retreat, food security

The programme establishes a full-cycle adaptation framework by linking upstream glacier monitoring with downstream interventions in agriculture, water management and disaster risk reduction, underpinned by integrated science-policy-finance mechanisms.

The G2F feasibility assessment has confirmed that climate finance systems across Central West Asia are underdeveloped and misaligned with national priorities. Critical gaps — including the absence of green taxonomies; environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards; and risk-sharing mechanisms — continue to undermine the ability of both governments and private actors to scale adaptation investments.

G2F is structured as a phased, ecosystem-based programme that leverages regional platforms such as the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Programme (CAREC), while avoiding duplication and fostering country-led adaptation at scale.

It is a regionally integrated, multi-sectoral climate adaptation programme aimed at safeguarding the lives, livelihoods and ecosystems of over 370m people in Central and West Asia.

The region is experiencing rapid and severe climate impacts — glaciers are retreating at rates of up to one per cent per year, water flows are becoming increasingly erratic, and both food insecurity and climate-related health risks are intensifying. “These cascading threats are especially acute in major transboundary basins such as the Indus, Amu Darya, and Syr Darya, where communities are heavily reliant on cryosphere-fed water systems,” the ADB report said.

Central West Asia is among the fastest-warming regions globally, with average temperatures rising by 0.2 to 0.4 degrees Celsius per decade. If these trends continue, more than 50pc of glacier volume in the Pamir and Tien Shan ranges could be lost by 2100, posing an existential threat to water, food and energy security across the region.

Glacier retreat is already destabilising seasonal water availability, intensifying natural hazards — such as glacial lake outburst floods (Glofs), avalanches and flash floods — and placing enormous pressure on already fragile agricultural systems. In addition to glacial retreat, snowpack is melting earlier in the year due to rising temperatures, shifting peak water availability to months when agricultural demand is still low.

This temporal mismatch between water supply and irrigation diminishes agricultural productivity and increases reliance on groundwater and reservoir storage — resources already under strain, the report said.

Any alteration in water timing, quality or quantity disproportionately affects vulnerable communities, particularly in water-stressed and low-capacity regions. Rural households, women-headed farms, and agri-micro-small-and-medium-enterprises (MSMEs) — already facing limited access to finance, infrastructure, and support services — are often the first to feel the effects of water stress and production losses.

Published in Brackly News, September 28th, 2025