Civil society orgs demand 3.2% of GDP for climate financing

Civil society organisations and climate activists in a joint press conference held on Monday called for at least 3.2% of the country's GDP to be dedicated to climate financing through the national budgetary process every year.

They also demanded that the government take effective steps to reform the taxation and financial systems in order to prevent capital flight and facilitate domestic resource mobilisation for climate financing.

The conference was organised by COAST Foundation, the Center for Participatory Research and Development (CPRD), the Centre for Sustainable Rural Livelihood (CSRL), Equity and Justice Working Group Bangladesh (EquityBD), An Organisation for Socio-Economic Development (AOSED)-Khulna, Climate Action Network on South Asia-Bangladesh CANSA-BD), and LEDARS-Satkhira.

During the conference, Aminul Hoque from EquityBD highlighted that although the government has been allocating funds for disaster management purposes, these funds are being labelled as climate finance to demonstrate commitment to donors. However, this allocation does not adequately address the current climate challenges and the requirements for building a climate-resilient Bangladesh.

Aminul further pointed out that the government's strategic climate plans, such as the Delta Plan 2100, Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan 2030, and National Determined Contribution, require an annual investment equivalent to 3.2% of GDP (Tk1,83,000 crore a year). However, the current allocation falls far short of this target.

To address this issue, he outlined several demands, including the government's assurance of at least 3.2% of GDP for climate financing, the development of an integrated national climate budget, the utilisation of domestic resources instead of foreign loans, measures to prevent capital flight, and prioritised investment in an integrated coastal protection programme to safeguard livelihoods.

Md Ziaul Hoque Mkuta from CSRL emphasised the lack of policy coherence among government climate plans, such as the Delta Plan and Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan.

He highlighted that the proposed national budget for fiscal 2023-24 fails to set specific targets for climate financing and called for a greater emphasis on aligning climate finance with strategic climate plans.

Md Shamsuddoha of CPRD expressed concerns about the lack of capacity within government ministries to effectively utilise climate finance. He identified the absence of sectoral plans as a major hurdle and suggested that ministries enhance their institutional capacity to access necessary climate finance.

Shamsuddoha also pointed out the ministries' preference for climate finance from international financial institutions due to the perceived lack of accountability and transparency compared to finance obtained through global climate financing processes.

Shamim Arefinn from AOSED highlighted the government's neglect of coastal protection issues, leading to climate-induced displacement, migration, and socio-economic imbalances.

He urged the government to recognize the importance of these issues and revise climate financing strategies accordingly.

Kawser Rahaman from the Bangladesh Climate Journalist Forum (BCJF) criticised the proposed budget, describing it as compliant with IMF guidelines but disregarding the pro-poor demands. He called for a budget revision and the implementation of a resource tax for revenue mobilisation.

Event moderator Rezaul Karim of COAST demanded an integrated coastal development plan and finance that simultaneously addresses disaster risk reduction, social development, and employment generation programs.

He emphasised that such an approach would provide real protection and benefit coastal communities.