The government has sought ‘bilateral assistance’ from donors to complete projects undertaken to deal with the climate change impacts.
“The donation can be given for a particular project or it may come through the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF),” state minister for environment Hasan Mahmud told reporters after a discussion with donors at the state guesthouse Padma on Sunday.
The junior minister said the donation could be sanctioned as ‘bilateral assistance’ from the $10 billion fund promised by the developed nations at the Cancun Climate Conference for the developing countries to deal with the climate change.
Donor countries had agreed on the funding, but no guideline was finalised, delaying the disbursement process, Hasan claimed.
He said a $25 million project proposal had already been sent to the governing council formed with representatives of the donor countries to oversee the fund.
“The $113.50 million donation for the BCCRF has not yet been endorsed by the council,” he said.
Hasan said they had agreed to increase the funding after a discussion over the priority projects.
Representatives from Belgium, Denmark, Canada, Italy, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, Swedish ambassador, Swiss high commissioner took part in the discussion along with officials of the European Union, USAID, World Bank, DFID and CIDA.
