News
ADB Launches Training on FDI Legal Framework and Domestic Policymaking Towards Green Economic Transition
On 25-29 August 2025, ADB's Law and Policy Reform Program, in partnership with the Uzbekistan Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade, convened government officials across multiple ministries mandated to drive policy change. They participated in an intensive workshop to familiarize themselves with the legal framework for FDI critical for the green economic transition, as well as its interaction with domestic policymaking to enable them to contribute more effectively to reform process and help mitigate dispute risk for the government.
ADB and ADBI Hold Third and Final Workshop in the Carbon Markets Webinar Series, on Legal and Regulatory Frameworks for Attracting Financing
On 1 August 2025, the ADB Office of the General Counsel and the ADB Institute hosted the final webinar in the Carbon Markets Series, which focused on developing legal and regulatory frameworks. Attended by 35 participants, the session explored key elements for building effective carbon markets, managing risks and opportunities, and attracting financing. In particular, presentations highlighted private sector considerations for investing—for instance, market feasibility and safeguards against greenwashing—and the importance of integrity in climate-related disclosures.
ADB Launches Legal Blueprint to Guide Law and Policymakers on Carbon Markets
In July 2025, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) published the seminal Legal Blueprint for Developing and Regulating Carbon Markets to serve as a valuable and timely knowledge resource for law and policymakers in designing national carbon market laws and regulations. Developed under ADB’s Law and Policy Reform (LPR) Program, the legal blueprint focuses on the supply side—what countries hosting carbon crediting projects need to regulate to provide legal clarity to market participants and ensure social and environmental integrity to generate high-integrity carbon credits.
ADB and ADBI Hold Second Workshop in Carbon Markets Webinar Series, Focusing on Safeguards, Community Protection, and Benefit Sharing
On 3 July 2025, the ADB Law and Policy Reform Program and the ADB Institute hosted a webinar entitled "Strengthening Legal Frameworks for Equitable and Sustainable Carbon Credit Implementation," the second workshop in the 3-part Carbon Markets Webinar Series.
ADB and ADBI launch Carbon Markets Webinar Series to Support Policymakers and Public Sector Stakeholders on Legal and Policy Carbon Markets Infrastructure Development
On 28-29 May, ADB General Counsel Thomas M. Clark and ADB Institute (ADBI) Dean Bambang Brodjonegoro welcomed participants to the launch of the Carbon Markets Webinar Series, a capacity building workshop developed by the ADB Office of the General Counsel’s Law and Policy Reform Program in collaboration with ADBI.
ADB Supports Fiji’s Move to Modernize Forestry Legislation to Address 21st Century Challenges
Fiji is drafting a new forestry bill to replace its 1992 Forest Act—modernizing the law to provide more holistic protection to forests. With ADB’s Law and Policy Reform Program, Fijian officials are working to align the draft with domestic and international commitments, including the Climate Change Act 2021 and the Paris Agreement, and with stakeholders’ needs. In May 2025, the Ministry of Forestry and ADB held stakeholders' consultations, allowing affected communities, traditional landowners, and others to inform the final version before it reaches Parliament.
ADB Supports Interministerial Consultations on Fiji’s Draft Carbon Market Regulations
On 13 May 2025, Fijian government ministries convened to review the draft carbon market regulations that will guide the country’s future engagements with the international carbon market. ADB legal experts helped organize the sessions and impressed upon the participants the importance of setting the boundaries of government oversight and improving intragovernmental coordination, key steps toward fostering investor confidence, and ensuring effective implementation.
Legal and Judicial Experts Explore Ways to Strengthen Environmental Protection and Address Climate Change at COP29 Side Events Organized by ADB Law and Policy Reform Program
At COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, ADB's Law and Policy Reform Program co-organized key side events on climate change, forest conservation, and judicial action. Highlights included discussions on forest finance, the Model Forest Act Initiative, and judicial perspectives on climate litigation.
ADB Workshop on Policy Architecture for High Integrity Carbon Markets
ADB held a deep dive carbon markets workshop on 10-11 December 2024 in Singapore with policymakers from 23 developing member countries (DMCs), as well as standard setters, market makers, and other key stakeholders following the breakthrough in the international carbon market under article 6 of the Paris Agreement, at COP29. The discussions focused on strategies to develop robust and high-integrity carbon markets at both the national and international levels.
ADB and IFAD Sign MOU to Enhance Law and Policy Collaboration in Forestry, Food, and Agriculture Sectors
On 3 September 2024, on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting of IFI General Counsels in Montevideo, Uruguay, the Asian Development Bank General Counsel Thomas M. Clark and the International Fund for Agricultural Development General Counsel Katherine Meighan signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance collaboration in legal and policy development in the forestry, food, and agriculture sectors, as well as their shared interest in advancing environmental rule of law