Tk100cr in special allocations to combat climate change

Bangladesh's government is ramping up climate change adaptation efforts with a Tk 100 crore budget allocation to tackle rising threats.

Considering the depth and extent of climate change's impacts, the government has taken steps to increase the capacity of climate change adaptation and reduce its effects.

The total allocated budget for the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in fiscal year 2024-25 is Tk 2,130 crore. In FY24 (revised), the allocation was Tk 2,068 crore, a 3 per cent increase from the FY24 budget. However, the allocation was only Tk 1,638 crore in the FY24 proposed budget.

Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali has tabled the budget for FY25 at the Parliament on Thursday.

Mahmood Ali said, "Considering the depth and extent of these impacts, we are taking all the necessary steps to increase the capacity of adaptation to climate change and reduce the impact. To speed up activities in this regard, I am proposing a special allocation of Tk 100 crore in this year's budget."

According to the Global Climate Risk Index 2021 by Germanwatch, Bangladesh is seventh among the countries most exposed to climate risk.

"To address the impact of climate change, we formulated the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP) in 2009, which is currently being updated, the minister added.

He also noted, "To implement the programs mentioned in the BCCSAP, Tk 3,969 crore have been allocated from FY 2009-10 to FY2023-24 for the management of the Climate Change Trust Fund (CCTF) formed by the government's self-financing, under which a total of 969 projects (including 908 public and 61 private projects) have been undertaken so far.

"We have already started implementing the 'Smart Farming Card and Digital Agriculture (Pilot) Project (2022-26)' and the 'ClimateSmart Agriculture and Water Management' Project (2022-25)."

"To enhance the capacity of the local government institutions in addressing the risks and impacts of climate change, the government has undertaken a project called "Local Government Initiative on Climate Change (LoGIC)."

"Bangladesh Climate and Development Platform (BCDP) has recently been set up for proper coordination of the projects undertaken to combat the impact of climate change, added the minister.

In this regard, M Zakir Hossain Khan, Climate Finance Expert and Chief Executive of Change Initiative, said, "100 crores of climate trust fund are given in the budget every year, but I think it is not enough. Apart from this, measures should be taken to recover the Tk 800-850 crore seized from this fund."

Besides, the trust fund should be reformed. BCDP should be designed according to international standards, and risk assessment should be done on how it can be spent in an enabling environment. Focus more on risk-based allocation rather than arbitrary allocation."

Sazzad/Avro