Bangladesh pushes youth-led, locally driven adaptation, spotlights LoGIC model at COP30

Bangladesh issued a strong call for scaled-up youth-led and locally driven adaptation at COP30, using a high-level event at the Bangladesh Pavilion to showcase lessons from the Local Government Initiative for Climate (LoGIC) model and underline the urgent need for greater international investment in community-based resilience on Thursday (20 November).

Speakers said Bangladesh's field-tested experience can help shape global negotiations, especially as parties refine the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA).

The session, titled "Mobilising Finance and Engaging Youths in Locally Led Adaptation (LLA) in Bangladesh: Lessons from the LoGIC Project," brought together senior government officials, global adaptation experts, funders, researchers, implementers and youth leaders.

They discussed how community-rooted models like LoGIC can inform global financing systems and direct more resources to climate-vulnerable communities.

Opening the event, Economic Relations Division Additional Secretary AKM Sohel said financing must reach the people who live daily with floods, salinity intrusion, cyclones and erosion. He stressed that locally led adaptation is "not an abstract concept but the lived reality" of millions in Bangladesh.

A keynote presentation by Dr Shah Abdul Saadi framed LLA as central to Bangladesh's long-term resilience strategies outlined in its National Adaptation Plan, NDC3.0 and the Climate Prosperity Plan. He said LoGIC's mechanisms, community-designed adaptation plans, climate-vulnerability assessments and empowered local governments, have already transformed resilience outcomes in participating districts. But he warned that scaling LoGIC nationwide will require stronger institutions and predictable, long-term financing.

UNDP Bangladesh Resident Representative Stefan Liller described Bangladesh as a "global laboratory" for locally led adaptation, noting that LoGIC offers replicable solutions for vulnerable nations worldwide.

Panel discussions examined the future of LLA in Bangladesh and its global relevance. Speakers included Sohanur Rahman, Executive Coordinator of YouthNet Global; Hemant Mandal, Director for Asia and the Pacific at the Green Climate Fund (GCF); Prof Hafizur Rahman of Independent University Bangladesh; Saqib Huq, Managing Director of ICCCAD; Anam Rathor, Programme Lead-Pakistan at CVF-V20; and Ayesha Dinshaw, Programme Officer for Loss and Damage at the Climate Justice Resilience Fund (CJRF).

YouthNet Global's Sohanur Rahman said young people must be embedded across all levels of adaptation projects, from design to monitoring and evaluation, arguing that youth should be "co-creators and decision makers," not passive beneficiaries.

Speakers from the GCF, ICCCAD and CJRF agreed that complicated procedures and unpredictable funding remain major obstacles to advancing LLA worldwide. They urged donors and multilateral funds to prioritise mechanisms that channel resources directly to local governments and community institutions.

CVF-V20 representative Anam Rathor said the alliance of 74 climate-vulnerable countries can help amplify Bangladesh's LoGIC experience across regions. She noted that South-South knowledge exchanges already link governments, youth networks and practitioners who can benefit from LoGIC's emphasis on community planning, women's leadership, local government engagement and small-grant mechanisms.

Rathor said Climate Prosperity Plans (CPPs) and Country Platforms offer strategic entry points for embedding LLA into national resilience systems. With multiple CPPs completed and others under development, she argued that LoGIC provides a "practical example of last-mile financing" that countries can adapt to their own contexts.

GCF's Hemant Mandal said climate finance must reach local levels faster, while CJRF's Ayesha Dinshaw emphasised that sustaining LLA requires long-term partnerships with local institutions rather than short funding cycles.

After rapporteur Maria Aktar summarised the session's key messages, ERD's Sohel delivered closing remarks, reaffirming Bangladesh's commitment to advancing the next phase of LoGIC and integrating youth engagement into all LLA initiatives.