Bangladesh and other developing nations at risk from climate change must provide consistent and sufficient grant-based public funding for adaptation. Developed nations need to stick to their promise to raise $10 trillion a year by 2025.
The focus of the speakers was on wealthy nations taking the lead and giving grants more weight than loans in order to close the gap from the previous three years (2020–2022). Speakers during a multi-stakeholder conversation on the Adaptation Gap Report 2023, which was recently released by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) on the fringes of the COP28 meeting, made these statements in the capital.
International development organization Concern Worldwide, Action Against Hunger, International Center for Climate Change and Development and Youthnet for Climate Justice jointly organized this dialogue at a hotel in Dhaka on Monday (November 20). Speakers called on rich countries and international development partners to prioritize and scale up climate adaptation finance flows with equity as needs-based, mandatory, and equitable for the country’s most affected communities.
Concern Worldwide Country Director Manish Kumar Agarwal stated at the start of the discussion that Bangladesh and other developing nations must suffer the most from a lack of sufficient funds for climate adaptation. During her inaugural remarks, Nyoka Martínez Backström, the First Secretary for Environment and Climate Change at the Swedish Embassy, highlighted the rich countries’ efforts to combat climate change and called on developing nations to contribute $100 billion annually in climate finance.
He said, “In order to cope with the adverse effects of climate change, developed countries must come forward to help those affected and urgently increase adaptation finance and private finance to meet the challenge. Adaptation is not a government’s sole responsibility. Difficulty in pricing climate risk and policy conflict are also obstacles. Climate justice must be placed at the center as an integral part of adaptation efforts.”
Global climate adaptation, according to Jyotiraj Patra, Program Director, Concern World Wide Bangladesh, has highlighted the inadequate and unprepared condition of efforts. Patra made this claim while presenting the statistics from the Adaptation Gap Report 2023. Financing for adaptation falls well short of demands, despite regions of the world experiencing record-breaking temperatures and severe climate extremes. Bangladesh and other developing nations require cash for adaptation that is 10–18 times more than what is currently provided by international public finance flows. which is at least 50% more than what was initially calculated. The need for financing has increased as a result of the worsening effects of climate change. Furthermore, money from the business sector is unwilling to be contributed to this fund.
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Institute of Water and Flood Management professor climate expert Dr. AKM Saiful Islam said the implementation of the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) identified a funding requirement of $203 billion for 2023-2050. At a rate of $8.5 billion per year, building climate resilience would require seven times the current spending to transform adaptation, including an expected $6.0 billion from external sources or international climate funds and development partners.
BRAC-KFW Climate Fund Secretariat Dr. The Deputy Director of the International Center for Climate Change and Development participated in a panel discussion moderated by Md. Golam Rabbani. Mizan R Khan, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) Professor Samia Ahmed Salim, Change Initiative Chief Executive Zakir Hossain Khan, Youthnet for Climate Justice Chief Coordinator Sohanur Rahman, UNDP LOGIC (Local Government Initiative on Climate Change) Project Coordinator Azad Rahman and Friendship Assistant Director of Partnership Development. Enamul Haque and others.
Dr. climate finance expert. Meezan R. Khan points out, “About 70 percent of climate finance currently directed to least developed countries (LDCs) is in the form of loans rather than grants. Moreover, the nature of government grants in developed countries discourages private sector interest.”
It is surprising to see that official development aid (ODA) mitigation receives approximately 53% of this money, with adaptation measures receiving less attention. Just 7-8% of climate financing reaches adaptation initiatives due to unbalanced allocations, according to Professor Mizan.
She went on, “The reliance on political commitment makes public financing alone inadequate. Thus, cutting-edge financial systems that go beyond conventional money are required.”
Young climate activist Sohanur Rahman said, “The world is now tired of empty promises. We are demanding adequate grant-based funding for adaptation activities from international climate finance institutions and development partners. We want a fair share of climate finance, not imposed loans or donations. The Paris Agreement The developed world must step up to prioritize ensuring gender-transformative, fair and equitable funding while fulfilling commitments made under the UN. It is time to reshape global financial institutional arrangements to ensure climate finance.”
Speaking from experience, panelists suggested a multifaceted strategy to close the finance gap for adaptation that should focus on various public and private sources at the national and international levels. The focus of the speakers was on utilizing the complementary qualities of various financing sources to construct a robust financial structure for climate adaption.
Mr. Mohammad Akmal Sharif, Country Director of Action Against Hunger, stressed the need of long-term collaborations in his parting words. According to him, young people can and are taking the lead in solving the global catastrophe. But this needs enough money and assistance.
