MANILA, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will mainstream environmental considerations into its operations through a regional technical assistance project approved recently, said the bank on Monday.

    The technical assistance, Mainstreaming Environment for Poverty Reduction, is financed through a 2.85 million-U.S. dollar grant from the multi-donor Poverty and Environment Fund, which has received contributions from the Swedish and Norwegian governments.

    The assistance will accelerate the incorporation of environmental considerations in ADB's assistance programs and encourage expanded environmental interventions in developing countries, through support for analytical studies, pilot interventions, capacity building and knowledge management, said the multilateral finance institution in a press release.

    The goal is to promote environmentally sustainable economic growth in contrast to current patterns in Asia in which the environment is being seriously degraded, said the bank.

    There are immediate opportunities in ADB's members to address environment and poverty issues simultaneously, said Nessim Ahmad, Director of Environment and Social Safeguard Division of ADB's Regional and Sustainable Development Department.

    "They can be only realized by mainstreaming consideration of the linkages between poverty and environment in more strategic ways in response to emerging development challenges such as climate change, urban pollution, natural resource degradation and vulnerability of the poor to environment-related disasters," said the director, adding that new capacity is needed to respond to these demands.