Civil society demands 3.2pc of GDP as climate finance
Rights-based civil society demanded at least 3.2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for climate financing through the national budgetary process every year, reports news agency UNB.
They also demanded the government to take effective steps by reforming the tax and financial system to stop capital flight from the country for necessary resources mobilisation domestically for climate financing.
Leaders of the civil society raised their demands at a press conference organised at National Press Club in the capital city on Monday.
Several civil society organisations, included COAST Foundation, Centre for Participatory Research and Development (CPRD), Centre for Sustainable Rural Livelihood (CSRL), Equity and Justice Working Group Bangladesh (EquityBD), An Organization for Socio-Economic Development (AOSED) in Khulna, Climate Action Network on South Asia-Bangladesh (CANSA-BD) and LEDARS-Satkhira jointly organised the press conference.
M Rezaul Karim Chowdhury of COAST foundation moderated the event.
In his speech, Aminul Hoque of EquityBD said that the government has been allocating a portion of budgetary money for disaster management purposes since its independence. This money just shifted in the name of climate finance to show the donors, which does not commensurate the present climate context and its requirements in achieving climate resilient Bangladesh, he added.
He also showed that the government strategic climate plans like Delta plan-2100, Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan-2030 and National Determined Contribution (NDC) and other such plans require investment of around 3.2 per cent of GDP (Tk 1.83 trillion) every year. But the current allocation is far less against the target.
In this context, he put a few demands regarding climate financing issues, including that the government must ensure at least 3.2 per cent of GDP as climate financing according to their strategic plans and real time implementation. The government must think of an integrated national climate budget instead of separate climate financing which is hardly realistic, Aminul Hoque added.
Md. Ziaul Hoque Mukta of CSRL said there is a lack of policy coherence among the government climate plans like Delta plan and Mujib Climate Prosperity plan. Proposed budget of 2023-24 financial year is the output of these inconsistencies with no target on real climate financing. Government will have to emphasise the issues of strategic climate plans and allocate climate finance accordingly, he added.
Md. Shamsuddoha of CPRD stated that government ministries lack the capacity to utilise money and they don’t have a sectoral plan which is one of the causes for separate climate financing. Apart from this, the ministries are also very much interested in taking climate finance from the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) because they have little accountability and transparency comparing finance through global climate financing processes like sovereign donors.
Shamim Arefinn of AOSED said that the government has ignored coastal protection issues. That’s why climate induced displacement and migration are happening and increasing socio-economic imbalance.
He hoped that the government would realise the issues as important and revise climate financing strategies accordingly.
Event moderator M. Rezaul Karim demanded for an integrated coastal development plan and finance where disaster risk reduction, social development like health, technical education and employment generation programmes are implemented simultaneously and that will be a real protection and benefit the coastal people.