BD extends climate change project by 2 more years

Bangladesh government and its development partners have decided to extend the Local Government Initiative on Climate Change, better known as LoGIC project, for two more years.

The extension is aimed to deliver adaptation benefit to the most vulnerable coastal people of Bangladesh, one of the climate vulnerable counties of the world.

The decision came in a virtual meeting held on Thursday attended by the LGRD Minister Md Tazul Islam and ambassador and the head of delegation to the European Union to Bangladesh among others.

The LGRD ministry led the four-year-long climate project initiated in 2016 jointly by the EU, Sweden, UNCDF and UNDP, said a press release on Thursday.

The project duration was extended by June 2023.

The project is aimed to deliver climate finance to the most vulnerable households and the local government institutions in 72 unions of Khulna, Sunamganj, Kurigram, Bagerhat, Barguna, Patuakhali and Bhola.

The project is designed to roughly support to 4,00,000 most climate-vulnerable people under its Performance-Based Climate Resilience Grants (PBCRG) and Community Resilience Fund (CRF) schemes, said the release.

Tazul Islam said, “LoGIC project is proved to be good system to deliver climate finance through local government institutions directly reaching the climate vulnerable people to invest on local adaptation.”

He also thanked all the development partners for standing beside the most climate-vulnerable people of Bangladesh along with the government.

EU ambassador Rensje Teerink highlighted European Union’s decade long support to Bangladesh in combating climate change.

“As EU, we are supporting the government to create a system to bring climate finance to most climate-and-economic-vulnerable households. The recent addition of approximately 7 million euros goes in the right direction and brings innovation for climate finance in Bangladesh,” she said.

“We look forward to continuing partnering with local government actors to ensure climate funds go where they are most needed, embracing a long-term perspective,” Teerink added.

Christine Johansson of the Sweden Embassy said that Bangladesh was not just a victim of climate change, the country also become a global leader on adaptation. “LoGIC is one example. Sweden is proud to be part of the solutions with the people of Bangladesh,” she said.

UNDP’s deputy residential representative in Bangladesh Van Nguyen stressed the importance of a collaborative approach like LoGIC to deal with the greatest threat to mankind, climate change.