KYOTO, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Environmental issues are to be highlighted at the 40th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which opened on Friday in the Japanese ancient capital of Kyoto, said ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda earlier in the day.

    "Being in Kyoto 10 years after the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol, it is appropriate this year to have a special focus on energy and the environment, particularly with relation to climate change," Kuroda said at a press conference.

    The president said that the ADB will be showcasing during the annual event a number of initiatives under its Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility, which will help developing Asian countries move toward the adoption of cleaner energy sources and technologies.

    Sources indicated that the ADB may try to promote efforts to craft a new global framework aimed at curbing global warming, in specific greenhouse emissions, after the 1997 Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

    However, environment protection activists seemed not satisfied with the ADB's environment friendly efforts. Protests led by the Green peace were staged outside the Kyoto International Conference Center, the site of the annual meeting, to call on the bank to stop assistance strategies which fuel global warming and to spend more money on promoting clean energy technologies.

    During the four-day annual event, some 3,000 delegates, including finance ministers of ADB member economies, senior government officials, economic and financial experts as well as representatives of international organizations will discuss issues related with ensuring sustainable economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

    A series of official and sponsored seminars, forums and member economies' presentations will be held during the meeting.