Study on spatial distribution of climate fund projects in urban areas of Bangladesh and their linkages with plans, policies and local context

Abstract

The urban areas of the world hold more than 50% the world’s total population, most of its built assets and economic activities which contribute to high proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions generated by urban-based activities. According to IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), Bangladesh is as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change facing climate change induced flood, cyclone, sea level rise, heavy rainfall etc. which affect infrastructure, water supply, energy, transportation, housing and health sector of many cities of Bangladesh. To continue the economic growth of a country, it is important to ensure climate resilient development in the urban areas. This research aims at investigating the allocation of different climate fund projects in the urban areas of Bangladesh for addressing the impact of climate change induced hazards in the light of plans, policies and local context. To achieve desired outcome of the research, three objectives has been formulated. The first objective is to study the spatial distribution of climate fund projects in the urban areas of Bangladesh while the second objective studies those projects in the light of national and international plans, policies and local context. The third objective analyzes the view of local people regarding some selected projects under climate funds and their association with climate change induced hazards at local context. To achieve first and second objectives, the projects under different climate funds in urban areas of Bangladesh along with the project type, location, objective, time frame, budget, stakeholders, project implementing agency and ministry, activities and expected outcome of the project, type and name of the fund etc. were studied. Urban areas of Bangladesh have been selected as a study area to achieve first and second objective while to achieve third objective, five study areas (DNCC, DSCC, Mongla Port municipality, Feni municipality and Bauphal municipality) have been selected based on allocation of completed climate fund projects and vulnerability of the urban areas. Secondary data from different sources were collected on climate change induced drought, flood, storm surge inundation, salinity intrusion, temperature rise and excessive precipitation, climate fund projects, national and international policy documents etc. In addition, Key Informant Interview (KII) and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) have been conducted in the selected urban areas and different Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools have been used to understand local people’s view regarding the impacts of climate change induced hazards and their linkage with the projects under climate funds. Among, 703 climate fund projects until 2019, only 245 projects have been taken in urban areas under Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF), Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF), Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust Fund with total fund of around 5,729 crore BDT. Around 50% of the total fund is allocated to address climate change impacts in Dhaka division. There are 121 urban areas without any climate fund project. The analysis of the urban area climate fund projects in the light of different national and international plans and policies showed that most of the climate fund projects in urban areas addressed infrastructural development. The projects under BCCTF in municipalities addressing waterlogging failed to solve the problem due to lack of proper maintenance of the drains, irregular cleaning, uncovered drains, solid waste dumping, lack of well-connected drains etc. The recommendations of this research are to increase allocation of climate fund projects to address all type of climate change induced hazards in the vulnerable urban areas. The upgradation and formulation of national plans and policies should also put more focus on the impact of climate change induced hazards in the urban areas. The urban area climate fund project objectives and outcomes should not only address the issue of infrastructural development but also other strategies suggested in the national and international plans and policies. Local people need to be consulted in all phases of project planning to have better understanding of local dimensions of climate induced hazards. The findings of this research would help the policy makers, planners, engineers and other stakeholders to identify the most vulnerable urban areas facing different climate change induced hazards along with the need of climate fund allocation in those areas.