Concerted plan needed to deal with Covid-19, climate change: speakers

The country's economy is going to face a double blow due to the Covid-19 pandemic and recurring natural calamities owing to climate change, speakers said yesterday.

Suggesting adoption of a concerted plan, they asked the government to spend money allocated for climate change in a planned way to combat the upcoming crisis.

They said this at a press conference titled "Climate Budget Press Conference 2020", jointly organised by ActionAid Bangladesh, International Centre for Climate Change and Development and International Budget Partnership.

The press conference was carried out through live streaming in social media.

On June 11, the government disclosed the national budget for the next fiscal where Tk 24,225 crore is allocated for climate change.

Of the total allocation, about 41.25 percent will be spent for food security, social protection and health, while the climate relevant allocation for knowledge management received only 3.5 percent.

Dr SM Munjurul Hannan Khan, additional secretary to the information ministry, said the budget allocation for climate change is not sufficient. "We need to focus on getting money from different global funds related to climate change."

He suggested improving the infrastructure at root level for better implementation of budget allocation.

Pointing out the adverse effect of pandemic, he said, "Covid-19 is a new problem. It is really sad to see many displaced people who had come to the capital are now returning to their villages. What will they do there? They've already lost their land and home."

"In my view, we need to do research on the collective impact of Covid-19 and climate change which will help us to get a recovery plan," said Munjurul, who earlier worked at the Ministry of Environment and Forest.

The research will help us improve infrastructural capacity, allocation and ability, he opined.

Dr Saleemul Huq, director of International Center for Climate Change and Development, thanked the government for including climate change in the budget.

Responding to several corruption allegations on irregularities and frequent damages of embankment in some southern districts, he suggested that the government ensure proper utilisation of the allocation and check graft.

Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh, said as the climate change and Covid-19 impacts are threatening social stability, economic growth and overall environment, the government needs to take it as an opportunity to rebuild the economy where rural communities, women, children and marginalised segments of the population will get priority.

"When a disaster takes place, it mainly takes a toll upon women. They become more vulnerable. So their issues need to be addressed," she said.

The ActionAid country director suggested a good management of disposal of PPE and masks.

"We need to focus on the pollution and health hazard that we are causing due to use of plastic-based protection equipment to fight Covid-19 and find ways to minimise the impact on the environment and the people living in poverty," she said.