Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has urged the government to raise its voice along with least developed countries (LDC) to create a separate special fund for climate related loss and damage financing in this year’s COP24.
The organization made the call at a press conference at its office in Dhaka on Thursday ahead of the upcoming COP24 to be held in Poland.
The COP24, formally known as the 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is scheduled to be held in Katowice, Poland—from December 3 to 14 this year.
In a written statement, Head of Climate Finance Governance, TIB, M Zakir Hossain Khan, said: “Create a separate dedicated fund in this year’s COP to address loss and damage in addition to adaptation finance for less developed countries. LDCs should raise their voices for immediate funding from that fund.”
He urged the Bangladesh government and other countries who signed the Paris agreement on climate change, to ensure transparency and accountability at home and globally, and give more emphasis to adaptation financing.
M Zakir said the Paris Agreement has no legal binding, and has created immense uncertainty for vulnerable developing countries to secure the required financing, especially for adaptation.
The most vulnerable seven countries including Bangladesh have received only 7% of total adaptation funds from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and other international climate funds.
GCF has received only $7 billion so far, while current demands based on the projects is $12 billion.
“To ensure transparency of financing under the Paris Agreement, a ‘transparency framework’ under article 13 has been proposed. However, since this framework does not have any legal binding, a doubt has emerged whether the target set by the Paris Agreement would be achieved” he said.
“Funding from the GCF and funds disbursed so far, only 45% of that was granted. Even though the funding ratio between adaptation and mitigation was supposed to be distributed equally (50:50), only 32% of the approved amount is allocated for adaptation so far.” Zakir said.
TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said: “Climate change is a global issue and there is no way we can ignore the effects of this phenomenon. Any international funds allocated to Bangladesh or other effected countries to tackle climate change, are neither charity nor a loan.
“We have some deficiencies in both negotiation and professionalism. Government officials are being transferred regularly and their knowledge is also transferred with them.”
He gave emphasis to non-government or independent experts for negotiation. “India and Sri Lanka are good examples of combined negotiation,” he said.
TIB Advisor for Executive Management, Dr Sumaiya Khair, said government officials and non- governmental experts should work together to ensure our goal.
Recommendations
TIB recommended consideration of the relevant stakeholders in Bangladesh and other countries that ratified the Paris Agreement to make the agreement legally binding for both developed and developing countries, and integrity and transparency should be ensured based on a collectively agreed transparency framework.
• ‘Polluters Pay (Compensation) Principle’ should be considered in defining climate financing that recognizes only public grants instead of loans
• Bangladesh, along with other less developed countries, should strongly demand the finalization of the roadmap to implement the Paris Agreement and mobilize the required resources (climate funds, technology, and technical assistance) from developed countries
• Concrete, time-bound roadmap to mobilize the fund by developed countries with due consideration of priority for adaptation and needs, for meaningful adaptation in developing countries should be adopted and implemented accordingly
• Creating a collective demand through climate diplomacy by the affected less developed countries in an integrated manner to raise voices to mobilize the adaptation fund on a priority basis and making the access mechanism country-friendly
• Dedicated financing from both GCF and Adaptation Funds should be ensured to rehabilitate, ensure welfare, and the economic prosperity of climate induced migrants. The Board of Green Climate Fund (GCF) should be reformed to form an equitable entity, withrepresentatives from both developed and developing countries
• The GCF Board should give priority to mobilizing grant based financing for climate adaptation in the affected countries
