Saber Hossain Chowdhury, the Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, announced the forthcoming reforms of the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust (BCCT) to bolster its role in achieving climate resilience.
Additionally, steps are being taken to secure BCCT’s registration as a Direct Access Entity to the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
Minister Chowdhury shared this information during a meeting at the Bangladesh Secretariat with ministry officials, the Department of Environment, and climate experts. The meeting focused on preparations for the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The Minister emphasized the need for Bangladesh to prepare robustly for COP29 to advocate for adaptation finance and loss and damage finance. He stressed the importance of developing a comprehensive country position paper to effectively represent Bangladesh. Collaboration with the UN, GCF, and other international alliances, including organizing joint side events, was also highlighted.
Present at the meeting were Tapan Kumar Biswas, Acting Managing Director of BCCT, Mohammad Rezaul Karim, Joint Secretary (Climate Change), Dharitri Kumar Sarkar, Deputy Secretary, Dr. Fazle Rabbi Sadek Ahmed, Deputy Managing Director of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation, Mirza Shaukat Ali, Director (Climate Change and International Conventions), and Md. Ziaul Haque, Director (Air Quality Management) of the Department of Environment.
The Bangladesh delegation, which recently participated in the 60th Subsidiary Body meeting in Bonn, Germany, briefed Minister Chowdhury on the outcomes. The Minister provided essential advice and guidance in response.