Tk 100cr climate fund, 25cr trees proposed
The government has proposed a series of climate and environmental initiatives in the FY2026-27 national budget, including a Tk 100 crore allocation for the Climate Change Trust Fund and a nationwide programme to plant 25 crore trees over the next five years, as part of efforts to build a greener and more climate-resilient Bangladesh.
Presenting the budget in Parliament on Thursday, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said tackling climate change and ensuring environmental sustainability remain among the government’s key priorities for future generations.
The proposed budget earmarks Tk 2,240 crore for the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, compared with Tk 2,144 crore in FY26 and Tk 1,837 crore in the revised FY26 allocation.
Khosru said the budget places special importance on environmental conservation, afforestation and maintaining ecological balance. Under the planned five-year plantation programme, tree planting activities will be expanded across roads, highways, embankments, riverbanks, canal banks and other marginal lands.
The government also plans to restore forest areas under state management and undertake mangrove afforestation in coastal char regions. Programmes involving homestead forestry, institutional tree planting, agroforestry and urban forestry will be intensified.
The finance minister said degraded sal forests in the Chattogram, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Sylhet and central regions would be rehabilitated as part of broader conservation efforts.
To improve transparency and accountability, digital technologies will be incorporated into afforestation activities. GPS and GIS-based databases will be maintained for plantation areas, while a Tree Monitoring App is being developed to digitally monitor and manage planted trees.
According to the minister, the planned initiatives are expected to create approximately 350,000 direct and indirect green jobs.
As part of the government’s “One Child, One Tree” programme, an action plan has been finalised to facilitate the planting of one crore trees at the homes of students enrolled in government primary schools.
For FY2026-27, the ministry has set targets to plant 42.897 million saplings on 25,960 hectares under block plantation programmes, 3.727 million saplings along 3,727 kilometres of strip plantations, 17.776 million saplings on 4,000 hectares of mangrove plantations and 5.6 million saplings under homestead forestry initiatives.
Khosru said climate resilience efforts would also include bringing 50 percent of coastal mangrove forests under carbon trading mechanisms. The government will update the national wildlife Red List and conduct assessments of 2,200 wildlife species, including marine species, to strengthen biodiversity conservation.
He said Bangladesh has already initiated 11 new carbon trading projects under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. The government is also moving towards a “Circular Future Model” in waste management through waste-to-energy projects, organic fertiliser production and plastic recycling initiatives.
Addressing air pollution, the finance minister noted that air quality is currently monitored through 15 Continuous Air Monitoring Stations (CAMS) and 16 Compact Continuous Air Monitoring Stations (C-CAMS).
To curb vehicle emissions, the government plans to establish 10 modern Vehicle Inspection Centres under the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and introduce electric bus services.
He added that continuous online stack emission monitoring systems would be introduced in major polluting industries, including power plants, while new guidelines would be prepared for environmentally sound e-waste management.
The minister said the government has already banned 17 environmentally harmful single-use plastic products and aims to cut plastic waste by 30 percent over the next five years through the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle (3R) policy.
He also noted that 2,700 out of 3,260 industrial establishments required to install Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs) have already complied, while 820 factories are now operating IP camera-based wastewater monitoring systems.
Khosru said future initiatives would focus on sustainable forest management, conservation of endangered species, expansion of afforestation activities and research aimed at delivering innovative environmental technologies to communities.
The budget also includes plans to excavate canals connected to rivers in southern Bangladesh to reduce soil salinity in agricultural lands.
In addition, financing will be provided for projects supporting the development of new crop varieties through organic farming, safe fertiliser use and environmentally sustainable agricultural practices as part of the government’s long-term climate adaptation strategy.
