‘Climate fund hardly reaches the vulnerable people’

Climate fund meant for the vulnerable people is hardy reaching them in the absence of capable institutions and proper distribution, which is a big letdown in the efforts to ward off and adapt to the effects of climate change, renowned climate change expert Prof Saleemul Huq told a panel discussion at the Bangladesh pavilion at COP26 on Saturday.  

He identified three big failures: first, developed nations have promised $100 billion in annual climate finance to the less wealthy nations but they are yet to start distributing the full amount; secondly 20% of climate finance is currently going to adaptation projects while mitigation projects are getting around 50%, although the ratio needs to be 50:50; and, thirdly, only 2% of the money is going to the vulnerable people.

"We need to address these issues," he said, adding that the fund should be distributed through capable institutions to make sure the vulnerable local communities benefit from it.

The panel discussion titled "Climate Bridge Fund: An innovative CSO led financing to build resilience of climate migrants in Bangladesh '' was orgranised by the Brac Climate Change Programme.

The Climate Bridge Fund was established under The Trust Act 1882 of the Bangladesh government in November 2019. 

It is a trust fund established by Brac, with support from the government of Germany through German state-owned development bank KfW, to support registered NGOs in Bangladesh to support the adaptation and risk reduction measures of people who are displaced or at the risk of being displaced due to impacts of climate change in Bangladesh. 

"The fund is an endowment fund. We invested about 10 million euro in a government Treasury bond. Proceeds are being used to support local organizations to implement adaptation projects," said Barbara Schnell, director of KfW.

She further said Bangladesh climate migrants have a very uncertain future. 

"We think the Climate Bridge Fund (CBF) initiatives have four success factors including capacity building. We hope for a fruitful partnership. CBF has bridged the gaps for vulnerable people."

"We were hoping for climate finance by 2020 but it is delayed. And the issue is yet to be resolved. We want the developed countries to start providing $100 billion in annual finance as promised. And we request them to start it right away," said Md Mostafa Kamal, secretary to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change while addressing the discussion as chief guest. 

Asif Saleh, executive director of Brac, said the CBF model of Brac-KfW can be a unique model to address problems of climate migrants and vulnerable people in urban areas.  "We do not have any master plan to address the climate change issues in cities. The CBF wants to promote locally-led adaptation to avoid climatic risks not only in Bangladesh but also in other countries of the world."