Speakers at a conference yesterday stressed vibrant integration between research and policy to combat the adverse impacts of climate change.
They also emphasised transparent and accountable climate funding at the closing of the 2nd annual conference of Gobeshona, a knowledge-based research platform, at the Independent University, Bangladesh.
Dr Saleemul Huq, director of International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), dubbed climate finance a ‘big issue’.
In his keynote speech titled ‘The Unfinished Agenda of the Paris Climate Talks: Climate Finance’, Professor John Timmons Roberts of Brown University, USA, said: “What counts as climate finance is still lacking and who will finance to developing country is still in ambiguity.”
He said grants-based adaptation funding was needed in the developing countries like Bangladesh.
Dr Saleemul said climate finance was still a problematic area in the country and called for transparency in the process.
Canadian High Commissioner Benoit-Pierre Laramee also stressed accountability of the climate financing. He emphasised strengthening government structure and faster implementation of projects along with robust monitoring systems.
Lawmaker Saber Hossain Chowdhury said the climate change issues would have to be addressed first when speaking about Bangladesh’s sustainable development goals.
“There is a big gap between research and policy. So they should be integrated,” he added.
Environment and Forests Minister Anwar Hossain Manju addressed the closing ceremony as the chief guest while Independent University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor M Omar Rahman presided over the event.
Dr Atiq Rahman, executive director at Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, thanked all the researchers from home and abroad and the participants.
At a plenary session in the morning, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, chair of the Southern Voice on Post-MDG International Development Goals, underscored integration between policies and government agencies to attain Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“There should be a strong political will, accountability and legitimacy too,” he said, adding that good governance was the key to achieving SDGs.
Planning Commission member Dr Shamsul Alam said: “There are systems but they do not function properly due to lack of normal civic sense. So our utmost need is to raise awareness among the people.
“Our budgetary allocation on environmental issues is only 6%. It needs to be increased by 20-30% within the next five years.”
