A high-level consultation workshop took place at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) recently here aiming to identify priority projects for accessing international climate finance.
Economic Relations Division (ERD), the Ministry of Finance, and the Improved Coordination of International Climate Finance (ICICF) project implemented by GIZ of Germany, jointly organised the workshop, a joint press release said today.
The objective of this 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.
Amal Krishna Mandal, Joint Secretary and Wing Chief of Economic Relations Division (ERD), 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, he said, adding that ERD would set up an International Climate Finance Cell for coordinating international climate finance through this cell.
Md Ruhul Amin Talukder, Additional Secretary at Ministry of Agriculture, 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, he said, 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 organizing such a time-befitting workshop to discuss this important topic,” Talukder said.
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.
Firdaus Ara said ERD is proactively seeking to tap move sources of finance and recognises its room to explore additional sources of external resource mobilization for climate change.
She said the ICICF project will support ERD to strengthen the capacities of national and local actors for accessing different funding sources for climate change projects.
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.