UNDP, govt launch $20.7m project to mainstream climate adaptation into development planning

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Department of Environment under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) have jointly launched a national project to integrate climate change adaptation into Bangladesh’s development planning.

The initiative was formally inaugurated through an inception workshop titled “Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Sustainable Development Pathways of Bangladesh”, held at the Department of Environment Auditorium in Agargaon, Dhaka.

The $20.7 million project—supported by a $5.7 million grant from the Global Environment Facility’s Least Developed Countries Fund (GEF-LDCF)—will run from 2022 to 2026 and aims to build resilience across five agro-ecological zones (AEZs): Barind, the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Chittagong Coastal Plains, Eastern Surma-Kushiara Flood Plains, and the Teesta Floodplain. The project is expected to directly benefit 1.2 million people living in some of the country’s most climate-vulnerable regions.