Climate budgeting should be all-inclusive strategy: CPD

Staff Reporter :
The country’s climate budgeting should be reformed so that it is considered as an all-inclusive strategy aligned with national priorities and at the same time allocation for climate vulnerable people should be increased in the social safety net program, said Dr Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
The ministry of finance should be in charge to drive climate budgeting reforms. Other ministries should be part of the reform process to establish their ownership in the process, she commented at a seminar organized by CPD in the capital’s BRAC Center on Monday.

Addressing the source of climate funding, Fahmida Khatun said that the private sector fund from developed countries to developing countries is a significant source of climate funding. In Bangladesh, private finance flow should be integrated into the system.

The Executive Director of CPD also proposed that Bangladesh should actively seek climate finance from international sources, including the GreenClimate Fund (GCF), Global Environment Facility (GEF), and bilateral sources.
While presenting the key-note paper, Dr Fahmida said the budget allocation has decreased by 0.45 percent in FY24 compared to the revised budget in FY23.
However, Climate relevant development expenditure increased from 40 percent of total climate budget expenditure in FY16 to 62 percent of total expenditure in FY24, which is a positive initiative by the government, she said.

Climate budget helps improvements in the allocation of public expenditures for climate and environmental goals. It also helps improve revenue generation through green fiscal measures which are aligned with climate and environmental objectives, she added.

For better integration of climate budget tagging into the national budget process, Dr Fahmida Khatunsaid broader stakeholders including the private sector, non-government organisations, civil society organisations, and community-based organisations should be engaged along with relevant human resources for better tracking of climate related expenditures.
Mostafizur Rahman, the honorary Fellow of Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), conducted the seminar.