NEWS reports on the national dailies said the Finance Minister supports stopping of allocations to national climate change programmes because he finds ‘no logic’ behind such actions other than merely making way for more spending by agencies in the name of protecting the nature. He is for earmarking more allocations for funding of development projects and for that he is about to use his scissors to cut subsidies in many areas. The Finance Minister shared his views recently in a semi-official letter to the Minister for Forest and Environment. Experts however differ with the Finance Minister arguing that climate change is a critical challenge to the country and there can’t be any neglect to it. Such neglect may cause adverse reaction at global climate talks on Bangladesh causing donors to start rethinking of reducing contributions to the country’s climate change projects. We know the government has so far allocated Tk 2,900 crore to Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund since 2009 when it was set up with contributions from major donor countries. To our Finance Minister, the fund already appears to be too much to support his decision to trim budgetary allocation to climate related projects.
Many may fear that the Finance Minister may be misled by wishful thinking when climate experts believe such trimming of allocation may harm global climate fund mobilization for Bangladesh. We know the Minister for Forest and Environment has already cautioned the Finance Minister on the ground that it may send negative signal. Bangladesh is pressing for more global fund and reparations to meet growing climate challenges from sea level rise and such calamities in global climate negotiations and there can’t be any worse time now to cut budgetary assistance to climate change programems.
But the climate change funds now at work in Bangladesh are also blamed for widespread corruption and swindling and it is obvious that it has impacted the Finance Minister’s decision to protect budgetary resources by reducing new allocations to climate projects. World Bank is managing the $188 million Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund along with Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund operated by the government. The WB has already made it clear that it would like to withdraw from managing the fund after 1016 in the wake of widespread corruption, irregularities and siphoning of funds by vested interest groups including political operatives having the role from project selection to approval and implementation. The fund in the government hand is similarly misused.
In fact, the Finance Minister may have been influenced by the pervasive corruption and irregularities in climate projects to reduce new allocations to save public money from being further misused. It is true, such decision may have negative impact at global climate funding process for Bangladesh, but we would like to welcome the Finance Minister’s decision as long as tangible improvement in the use of climate fund has not been achieved.
