UK government commits $1.6 billion for climate financing

MANILA, Philippines — State-run British International Investment (BII) has pledged to mobilize $1.6 billion (about P100.9 billion) in climate financing for the Philippines and other developing Southeast Asian economies.

The United Kingdom’s development finance institution aims to help the region shift away from high-emission fossil fuel power generation toward a low-carbon future.

BII is targeting investments in key sectors that can cut emissions and strengthen climate resilience, including renewable energy generation, transmission, electric vehicle adoption, waste management and water infrastructure.

About half of the $1.6 billion investment over the next five years will come from BII’s own capital, with a similar amount expected to be mobilized from private investors.

A significant portion of the committed capital will be channeled through British Climate Partners, a climate finance initiative BII launched earlier this year.

“Our singular focus for the Southeast Asia region is to fund climate finance projects that will contribute to the region’s clean and sustainable economic future. The global challenge of the climate emergency knows no border,” BII CEO Leslie Maasdorp said.

From 2023 to 2025, BII committed nearly $400 million in climate financing across Southeast Asia. Its infrastructure and climate investments in the region have supported about 358 megawatts of operational or installed clean energy capacity to date.

These investments have generated more than 556,000 MW-hours of renewable electricity and helped avoid approximately 368,000 tons of carbon emissions.

“The next five years will see us commit a significantly greater level of capital to widen the pipeline of climate finance opportunities and turbocharge the pace of the green transition,” BII managing director and head of Asia Srini Nagarajan said.