Can climate finance in Bangladesh be helpful in making transformational change in ecosystem management?

Abstract

Bangladesh is widely recognized to be one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world and climate change issues are being one of the major focuses of the government and other development agencies of Bangladesh. One of the most vulnerable aspects in climate change is the fragile ecosystems in Bangladesh. Climate finance is perceived as key enabling factor to protect the fragile ecosystems in Bangladesh from climate change impacts. This paper examined the extent current policy and financial instruments in Bangladesh under broader purview of ‘climate finance’ that can protect the fragile ecosystems from climate extremes. The existing public policy discourses regarding climate change finance of Bangladesh neither significantly address the issue of ecosystem approaches of climate change adaptation nor identify restoration or protection of ecosystem as a key adaptive capacity of the vulnerable population and related social, economic, built and natural systems. There are also no financial instruments designed under different climate funds that potentially can address the needs of ecosystem. This fact reminds the way institutional culture in general and culture of policy making in Bangladesh is determined by the powerful minorities in a business-as-usual institutional architectures.