LGED Achieves Milestone with Climate Resilient Masterplan

Bangladesh suffers an annual economic loss of nearly $300 crore due to extreme climate events such as floods, droughts, storms, and heatwaves, impacting over 6.3 million people, according to the Climate Risk Index 2025 by Germanwatch. In 2022 alone, the country lost over $299 crore to natural disasters.

Germany has committed €9.5 million to Bangladesh through two technical cooperation agreements focusing on biodiversity conservation and climate-smart urban development. The agreements, signed by Md Shahriar Kader Siddiky of the Economic Relations Division and Andreas Kuck of GIZ, will fund two projects: the SUNDAR-BAY project (€2.5 million) and the INCLUDE project (€7 million).

Bangladesh has the potential to earn US$1 billion annually from the global carbon market, according to a World Bank expert at the COP29 conference in Baku on December 2, 2024. The country is encouraged to speed up its efforts to tap into carbon trading opportunities, with projections indicating Bangladesh can trade up to 40 million tonnes of carbon.

USAID will provide a $15 million grant for the ClimAct Project in Bangladesh, aimed at supporting the country's green and climate-resilient initiatives. The project will assist the Ministry of Environment in implementing the National Adaptation Plan and Nationally Determined Contributions, focusing on policy and planning, accessing finance, and governance of climate actions. The announcement was made by Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan after a meeting with a USAID delegation led by Director Joseph Lessard.

Bangladesh is at risk of falling into a climate debt trap, with per capita climate debt rising from $0 in 2009 to $79.61 (Tk9,485) in 2022, according to the Change Initiative's report. It highlights that reliance on debt-based climate finance could hinder adaptation efforts for economically weaker countries.