The Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) staged a protest outside the Asian Development Bank (ADB) headquarters in Manila on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, calling on the institution to immediately stop financing coal mining projects as the Asia Clean Energy Forum (ACEF) 2025 kicked off.
The ACEF, now on its 20th year and hosted annually by the ADB, aims to shape Asia’s clean energy agenda. This year’s theme, “Empowering the Future: Clean Energy Innovations, Regional Cooperation and Integration, and Financing Solutions,” was met with sharp criticism from civil society groups who accuse the bank of contradicting its own clean energy rhetoric.
“Undeniably, this is business-as-usual,” said Elle Bartolome, Senior Executive Officer for Policy, Campaigns, and Communications at PMCJ. She pointed to the all-time high global fossil fuel consumption in 2024 and Southeast Asia’s continued reliance on coal to meet its rising energy demands. “Financial institutions like the ADB, shelling out loans and supporting the construction and expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure, are financing a fossil-fuel dependent future,” she added.
PMCJ cited specific ADB-backed coal projects in the Philippines—including those in Zambales and Cebu—as examples of the environmental harm and community suffering allegedly caused by the bank’s investments. The group criticized the ADB’s Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM), claiming it contains “significant gaps and misdirections,” and ultimately serves to prolong the lifespan of coal operations by failing to hold major polluters accountable.
Ian Rivera, National Coordinator of PMCJ, delivered a strong message to the multilateral lender: “For decades, ADB has been profiting from dirty energy, deaths, and destruction. It is long overdue for ADB to be shut down. It never served the purpose of development for Asia.” Rivera further called for the cancellation of debts incurred through what he described as “loans disguised as development and clean energy.” As ACEF 2025 continues, climate justice advocates remain firm in demanding genuine, transformative action from the ADB and other financial institutions. Their protests serve as a public challenge to the so-called “Climate Bank” to prove its commitment by severing ties with coal once and for all and prioritizing people-centered, renewable energy solutions.