Climate change mitigation finance and project implementation in the coming days emerged as a big challenge for Bangladesh, experts say.
They opined that in climate change mitigation at public and private levels, internal communication and effective coordination with the departments concerned are essential for finance, implementation, supervision, audit, and evaluation of the projects.
According to a study of a non-government organization, funds from the international sources, the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF) has allocated Tk. 608.62 crore till June 2020, which is 18% of the total fund allocated to Bangladesh for climate change mitigation.
Moreover, every year the government of the country allocates regular funds to the climate change sector in the national development budget.
In the fiscal year of 2019-20, Tk 3,435.9 crore was allocated for climate change mitigation and low carbon development-related projects. The Bangladesh Climate Trust Fund (BCCTF) is a source of funding for the implementation of Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP). The total sanctioned funding for mitigation projects from FY 2009-10 to July 2018 is Tk 565 crore, which is about 20% of the total allocated funding of BCCTF.
Climate researcher at an NGO, Rakibul Amin said, “Financing for climate change mitigation and implementing it is a global challenge. It is high time for Bangladesh to address the challenge and ensure transparency with current projects so that implementation and finance remain unquestionable from the donors’ side.”
From my perspective, planning, coordination and audit are vital in climate change mitigation and financing, he added.
He also noted that huge investments are being made in reverse coal and LNG based power plants without investing in power generation from renewable sources.
Mentioning several challenges to climate change mitigation finance and project implementation in Bangladesh, climate finance and environmental governance analyst of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) M Zakir Hossain Khan said, “Project supervision, audit and evaluation reports should be made available to the public. Independent monitoring of third party and public participation should be ensured at all stages of the project.”
In order to receive the complaints, a complaint box should be set up, a mobile phone number should be provided to report corruption and a public hearing should be held in the project areas periodically, he added.
He further stated that priority-based financing in forest management, including conservation of wildlife habitats, and the use of such funds in a transparent and accountable manner must be ensured.