Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh has formulated long-term plans to address climate change impacts, but a lack of budget threatens their implementation, experts warned at a seminar on Thursday.
The seminar, titled “Self-Reliant Climate Finance,” was jointly organised by EquityBD, AOCED, Coast Foundation, Clean, and CSRL. It highlighted the gap between planning and action in Bangladesh’s climate response.
“Several plans exist, including the Centenary Delta Plan,” said Dr. Kazi Khaliquzzaman Ahmad, a climate expert who chaired the seminar. “However, the proposed national budget for 2024–25 FY does not reflect the necessary allocation for their execution.”
Dr. Ahmad pointed to positive examples like the National River Protection Commission’s identification of 50,000 river encroachers. However, the Commission lacked the power to take punitive measures, hindering progress.
Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, Executive Director of the Coast Foundation, emphasised community involvement in coastal protection. “Embankments are crucial,” he said, “but local communities should be involved in their construction and maintenance. We’ve seen success with this model in Bhola’s Charfashion.”
Abul Hasan, Assistant Director at Coast Foundation, presented a keynote paper outlining three key demands: stating that at least 3 percent of GDP should be allocated to climate finance within the national budget, reducing dependence on foreign loans, prioritising the National Strategy Paper on Displacement Management within the climate finance framework, and ensuring separate allocations based on local needs for coastal protection beyond traditional embankment construction budgets.
Highlighting the implementation gap, Hasan Mehdi of Clean pointed out, “The national five-year plan for climate change aims for a 10% renewable energy system by 2025. Yet, we’ve only achieved 3PC so far.”