The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a major development financial institution serving Asia and the Pacific Rim, is introducing its latest technical assistance project to China to help tackle rising environmental problems.

According to the new plan "PREGA," 10 to 15 energy projects will be selected in the coming months, and each will be financed by the bank or other international financial institutions to promote energy efficiency, greenhouse gas abatement and the use of renewable energy, said Aminul Huq, principal energy specialist with the bank.

PREGA is part of ADB's Renewable Energy, Energy and Climate Change (REACH) Programme, established early this year.

REACH, which coordinates renewable energy and energy efficiency and monitors climate change activities, is supported by the Netherlands, Canada and Denmark.

Apart from ADB, the project - which will start this year and end in 2004 - will be funded by commercial, multilateral, and bilateral sources. The sources include the Global Environment Facility and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), two international programmes led by the United Nations to promote environmental protection.

The bank, co-ordinating with the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), hosted a workshop in Beijing on Wednesday, marking the official launch of the project.

SEPA will oversee the study for the People's Republic of China and generate project proposals up to the pre-feasibility stage.

As of today, 15 developing economies are participating in the project to promote renewable energy, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas abatement in the region.

This is China's first environmental project to be funded by international institutions, and to focus on widening the poor's access to cleaner energy in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The rapid global climate change in the past few decades has made such projects more urgent and practical, and they will benefit both domestic and foreign countries, said Sujata Gupta, another senior renewable energy adviser with ADB.

(China Daily July 8, 2002)