A high-level consultation workshop on identifying priority projects for accessing international climate finance has been held at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Dhaka.
Economic Relations Division (ERD) under the Ministry of Finance, and the Improved Coordination of International Climate Finance (ICICF) project implemented by GIZ on behalf of the Federal Government of Germany, jointly organised the workshop on Thursday, a press release said.
The objective of the workshop was to engage relevant stakeholders from sectoral ministries, financial institutions, and the private sector to collectively identify and prioritise climate change project ideas for accessing international climate finance for Bangladesh.
The workshop also aimed to create a better understanding within the stakeholders on the role of ERD, in the match-making process of climate change project proposals with international climate funding sources.
In his welcome address, Joint Secretary and Wing Chief of ERD Amal Krishna Mandal said, “We are not being able to show efficiency in increasing climate finance because it is a difficult and time-consuming process.
“The ICICF project aims to develop institutional structures, processes, and capacities for increasing access to different climate funds. It has three components - one of which will be managed by us, one will be through the Governance Innovation Unit (GIU) of the Prime Minister's Office and the other will be done by Bangladesh Bank. Also, ERD will set up an International Climate Finance Cell for coordinating international climate finance through this cell,” he said.
Ministry of Agriculture Additional Secretary Md Ruhul Amin Talukder said, “Bangladesh is at the front line of at-risk countries from climate change and with agriculture, being one of the most affected sectors.
“To address this risk, Bangladesh must be provided adequate assistance from international climate funds. We have already contacted different development partners in this regard and expect to receive the necessary funding through the combined efforts of various stakeholders. I thank ERD and GIZ for organising such a time-befitting workshop to discuss this important topic,” he added.
Principal Advisor of the ICICF project, GIZ, Dr Firdaus Ara Hussain briefly explained the scope of work of the German technical assistance project to the participants.
She said, “The hard-earned economic development of Bangladesh is at risk due to climate change and the existing funding sources will not be sufficient to address the adverse effects of climate change.
“ERD is proactively seeking to tap move sources of finance and recognises its room to explore additional sources of external resource mobilisation for climate change.”
The ICICF project will support ERD to strengthen the capacities of national and local actors for accessing different funding sources for climate change projects, read the release.
Climate change expert Dr SM Munjurul Hannan Khan began the technical session by giving an overview of the interviews carried out earlier by the project with the relevant stakeholders to discuss priority areas for climate change action in Bangladesh.
Potential climate change project ideas from different sectors were presented, following which the participants identified priority projects based on predefined prioritisation criteria.
