Staff Reporter :
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has revealed that over half of the funds allocated to climate projects from the national budget during the previous Awami League (AL) administration were lost to corruption.
From 2010 to 2024, the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCT) approved project allocations worth $458.5 million, of which an estimated $248.4 million (Tk 21.106 billion) was misappropriated, affecting 54 percent of total allocations, the TIB report said.
The findings, presented at a briefing at the MIDAS Center in Dhanmondi on Tuesday, were part of TIB’s research titled “Challenges and Way Forward in Ensuring Good Governance in Climate Finance in Bangladesh.”
According to the report, many projects were approved through political influence, collusion, and nepotism, while BCCT officials failed to take adequate measures to prevent irregularities. The study analyzed 942 projects under 12 different funds between 2003 and August 2024, with a separate focus on 2010–2024.
TIB noted that Bangladesh needs $12.5 billion annually to address climate change impacts, but from 2015 to 2023, the country received only $86.2 million per year—just 0.7 percent of the required funds. Of 585 completed projects by 2024, only 90 (15.4 percent) underwent short-term evaluation, leaving 495 (84.6 percent) unassessed.
TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said, “Bangladesh requires $10–12 billion annually for climate compensation. From 2003 to 2024, we received only $1.2 billion, which is absolutely negligible.”
