In the power sector, ADB has invested $4.88 billion to generate 2,884.8 MW of electricity—yet 82.9% of this funding supports fossil fuel plants. Just 2.55% has been allocated to solar energy, with no investment in wind power at all.
Just ahead of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) 58th Annual General Meeting, civil society organizations in Bangladesh have raised the alarm over what they call the ADB’s “fossil-fueled development model,” warning that the bank’s $17.34 billion in energy investments are endangering the country’s climate future.
At a press conference in Dhaka on Tuesday, the NGO Forum on ADB, Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network (CLEAN), and allied groups criticized the ADB for prioritizing fossil fuel projects under the guise of development, while ignoring environmental and social safeguards.
According to an analysis by the NGO Forum, over 65% of ADB-funded projects in Bangladesh lack proper environmental or social classifications, raising serious concerns about transparency and accountability. Of the total energy financing, only 0.35% has been allocated to address resettlement or indigenous issues, and just 2.55% has gone toward solar power—while no funding at all has been directed toward wind energy.
“This raises serious doubts about ADB’s commitment to sustainable development,” said Sarmin Bristy, Fossil Fuel Campaigner at NGO Forum on ADB.
Rayyan Hassan, the group’s Executive Director, highlighted that 82.9% of ADB’s electricity investments support fossil fuel plants, despite Bangladesh’s acute climate vulnerability.
“Fossil fuel projects are receiving the highest per-megawatt investment, while solar is being sidelined. This is not a transition—it’s a trap,” he said, calling for an immediate policy shift.
CLEAN Chief Executive Hasan Mehedi pointed to the ADB’s investment of over $100 million in upgrading a Khulna gas power plant—an effort he described as another “costly daydream.” He noted that the project has cost the government over BDT 1,824 crore over 11 years, without delivering promised results.
“Bangladesh is on the frontlines of the climate crisis, yet ADB continues to fund fossil fuels that deepen our vulnerability. There is no justice in displacement and no sustainability in debt-driven destruction,” Mehedi added.
The civil society coalition issued three urgent demands: an end to all fossil fuel financing, the enforcement of strict environmental and human rights safeguards including free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC), and a rejection of carbon markets and greenwashing disguised as climate action. As the ADB meets for its annual summit, campaigners are calling for the bank to choose between leading a just, fossil-free energy transition or being held accountable for worsening the climate crisis
