Govt to form trustee board to operate Tk 300cr fund
The government has decided to set up a board of trustee to operate a Tk 300-crore climate change fund allocated in the current budget for use mainly in adaptation programmes.
"Two-thirds of this fund will be spent every year and one-third will be deposited in the bank to create a self-sustaining fund," said Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam after an inter-ministerial meeting at the ministry.
Aziz chaired the first meeting on use of the fund. Food Adviser AMM Shawkat Ali, special assistant to the chief adviser on forest and environment Raja Debashish Roy, and officials concerned were present at the meeting.
Aziz told reporters that the government will also form a steering committee comprised of representatives from various ministries to prepare policies, projects and mobilise funds from foreign donors.
“The main focus of the fund will be adaptation. No money of the fund will be used for mitigation programme," the finance adviser said.
The government has already discussed with UNDP and the World Bank, which sent positive signals on funding but have not made any clear commitment, he added.
Aziz said he does not know whether the donors will contribute to the government's climate change fund or create separate funds.
He said if the donors create separate funds, representation of the board of trustee will be there to make sure no overlapping takes place for the same purpose.
About the global conference on climate change and Bangladesh, to be held in September in London, he said the government will have presentations on the vulnerabilities that Bangladesh will face due to climate change.
Bangladesh with financial support from the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) is going to hold the conference where representatives from various multilateral organisations will be present.
The government has already started collecting reports from various ministries concerned to present in the London conference.
"The main purpose of the September conference is to sensitise the world about Bangladesh and our strategies on adaptation and mitigation," Mirza Aziz said.
This conference, however, will not be any pledging session like that of the Paris Consortium meeting. Any pledges by agencies, however, would be welcomed, he noted.
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