Description
In support of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), ADB has been observing International Anticorruption Day (IAD) with a bank-wide celebration every December since 2011. This annual event is organized by the Office of Anticorruption and Integrity (OAI) for the ADB community.
IAD 2023 will be an in-person series of events in ADB Headquarters in Manila. During IAD week, OAI is holding activities and informational sessions highlighting the importance of anticorruption and ADB’s role in fighting corruption.
Theme
Corruption and its staggering costs have affected sustainable development across the globe. Corruption drains more than 5 percent of the world’s GDP. Of approximately $13 trillion in global public spending, 25 percent or $3 trillion is lost to corruption.
In developing countries, the United Nations estimates that corruption, bribery, tax evasion and related illicit financial flows deprive developing countries of around US$1.26 trillion per year. This has recently been reinforced by International Monetary Fund research showing that corruption reduces global tax revenues by US$1 trillion annually.
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 targets reducing bribery, strengthening institutions, and promoting transparency. These three targets are crucial to the achievement of the other 17 SDGs. As Asia and the Pacific’s climate bank, ADB is the first multilateral development bank to set clear climate investment targets for 2030. In 2015, ADB committed to increase its climate financing up to $6 billion annually by 2020 – a target the bank achieved in 2019. ADB also aims to dedicate 75% of its operations to support climate action by 2030.
ADB recognizes the significant risks and deleterious effect corruption can have on climate change projects and is raising awareness of these risks on IAD this year. In line with this, this year’s IAD theme is “Green and Clean: Protecting Climate Finance from Corruption.”
At the session Green and Clean: Protecting Climate Finance from Corruption, Pulitzer Prize finalist, New York Times bestselling author, and former Wall Street Journal reporter Bradley Hope highlighted that the fraud and theft which characterized Malaysia's 1MDB scandal is a stark reminder that when governance fails, the consequences can derail entire nations from their development paths. In the context of climate finance, governance failure can mean the difference between a secure future and a compromised environment. Watch video
Objective
This IAD program aims to support ADB’s role in upholding the highest standards in integrity and anticorruption as Asia and the Pacific’s climate bank. The main session’s discussion will focus on promoting integrity and anticorruption awareness to the ADB community, specifically regarding:
- Risks of corruption in climate-related financing
- Identifying concrete solutions to promote anticorruption practices at all levels.
- Frameworks and tailored approaches to effectively address corruption with sustained anticorruption efforts and multiple stakeholder engagement that combine various international agreements, laws, and conventions
- How to mitigate corruption risks in essential sectors and strengthen collective action of governments, civil society, and the private sector
Target participants
ADB community (staff, consultants, and contractors).
Resource speakers
Bradley Hope, New York Times bestselling author, Pulitzer Prize nominee, and Wall Street Journal reporter
How to register
Register now to join the event (open to ADB personnel only).
Costs
This event is free.