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People's Republic of Bangaldesh 10 April 2018 Country Programme Date: 04.10.2018 Government of Bangladesh Journey with Green Climate Fund Bangladesh’s Country Programme for Green Climate Fund 2018 NDA Secretariat Economic Relations Division Ministry of Finance Government of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh Country Programme Date: 04.10.2018 Government of Bangladesh Forward Mr. Javier Manzanares Executive Director, a.i Green Climate Fund (GCF) Songdo, Incheon South Korea Dear Mr. Manzanares, This Country Programme is submitted to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) on behalf of the Government of Bangladesh. It reflects our country priorities for climate change related actions and planned engagement with the GCF in the near and medium future. Bangladesh’s Country Programme to the GCF is a ‘living document’. Thus, this first version of the Country Programme is supposed to provide strategic guidance for project proposals to the GCF for the upcoming years, while the nature of the document will remain flexible. It will be updated periodically to reflect changing national circumstances, revised adaptation and mitigation priorities and targets, and to allow us to catalyse private sector and other stakeholders’ ambitions to engage in addressing climate change related challenges. The Country Programme of Bangladesh was developed through a comprehensive stakeholder consultation process. The NDA, supported by UNDP, reviewed and prioritised over 230 submitted project ideas to identify the most transformational and effective project ideas to be included in the countries’ project preparatory pipeline. This Country Programme can be shared and made publicly available to interested stakeholders or other countries as an example. Bangladesh is committed to meet the goals expressed in our Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and hopes that this Country Programme provides a solid basis to upscale climate action supported through the GCF. Yours Sincerely, Mr. Kazi Shofiqul Azam Senior Secretary, Economic Relations Division (ERD), Ministry of Finance - 2 - Country Programme Date: 04.10.2018 Government of Bangladesh Executive Summary This Country Programme of Bangladesh to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) was prepared to provide a consolidated overview of the of received GCF support and aspired climate change focused projects/ programmes reflecting the country’s climate change resilience building and emission reduction strategies and priorities. The Country Programme, furthermore, provides a synopsis of the observed and projected climate change impacts in Bangladesh, the climate change governance structure, and an overview about main actors in the country’s climate change response activities. It was developed in an inclusive manner and the proposed pipeline is a prioritised selection from 230 submitted project/ program ideas and concept notes. Bangladesh, located in South Asia, has a land area of 147,570 km2 with an extensive coastline and large deltaic floodplains that cover 80 percent of the country and is overlapped by over 310 rivers. Except for hilly regions in the northeast and southeast and some highlands in the north and north-western parts, the country is predominantly flat and low-lying. The mean elevation is 4 to 5m above sea level and only about 10 percent of the land stands at 1m above sea level. Bangladesh has a population of approximately 160 million people and is with around 1,063 people per square km2 considered to be the tenth most densely populated country in the world. The demographics and geographic characteristics are shaping the development trajectory and potential of the country. Over the past two decades the economy of Bangladesh has gone through major reforms and transformations and achieved remarkable socio-economic development progresses. According to the International Monetary Fund, Bangladesh is “among the top ten fastest growing economies in the World in the fiscal year 2016-17”. The economic development of Bangladesh is driven mainly by a growing service industry and industrial sector, especially for garments. The service industry accounted for around 52 percent of Bangladesh’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2016, and the industrial sector for 28 percent. The agricultural and fisheries sectors contributes to around 16 percent of the national GDP. Despite this relatively lower contribution to the GDP, the agriculture sector is the main employment provider in the country with 47 percent of the total labour force being employed in the sector and more than 70 percent of the population being involved directly or indirectly in agricultural activities. Agriculture remains the main source of income and provides 87 percent of rural employment. The income disparity between urban and rural areas is still prevalent with headcount poverty levels of 35.2 percent in rural and 21.3 percent in urban areas in 2010. The coastal belt of Bangladesh is considered as being among the poorest regions of the country. These regional differences in livelihood opportunities and living standards can be a driving force of rural-urban migration and impose extra stress on the public service provision (e.g. utilities, education, health) in the already densely populated urban areas in the country. The development gains and aspirations of the country can significantly be impact and undermined by climate change. Bangladesh has been repeatedly listed as being among the globally most vulnerable countries to climate change. The susceptibility and vulnerability of the country to climate change impacts is shaped by its geographic and climatic characteristics exacerbated by the socio-economic situation of large parts of the population living in poverty. The key climate change impacts projected to affect the nation are: (i) variations in air and ocean temperatures; (ii) changes in precipitation patterns; (iii) intensification of extreme weather phenomena, such as cyclones; (iv) sea level rise; and (v) climate induced salinization of soils and freshwater sources in coastal regions. The vulnerability of Bangladesh to climate change is mainly shaped by being a low-lying delta area divided by hundreds of rivers in combination with socio-economic status of large parts of the society being dependent on agricultural sectors, as well as insufficiently developed infrastructure that is not fit for purpose to cope with increasing climate change related risks. In order to enable Bangladesh to enhance the country’s resilience against climate change and to follow a low emissions development trajectory, the Government of Bangladesh developed a range of plans and frameworks that provide clear guidance to key stakeholder groups, national development planning, and sets ambitious targets. Climate change challenges are well recognized and remedial measures are appropriately articulated in the country’s long-term vision and multiyear plans like the ‘Vision 2021’ and ‘Seventh Five Years Plan’. A number of acts, policies, plans, strategies, frameworks, instruments, and tools to tackle the current vulnerability and imminent risk of climate change were developed and enacted. Regardless of these progressive actions, Bangladesh’s vulnerability to climate change remains among the highest in the world. Over the last three decades, the Government of Bangladesh has invested over $10 billion (at 2007 constant prices) to make the country more climate resilient and less vulnerable to natural disasters. Flood management embankments, coastal polders and cyclone shelters have been built, and important lessons learnt on how to implement such projects successfully in the dynamic hydrological conditions of Bangladesh and with active participation of communities. Another estimate states that around $1 billion are spent by the Government of Bangladesh each year for climate-related activities, especially for adaptation to climate change. Around 77 percent of the funds come from national sources, while approximately 23 percent are from development partners. Despite these investments, it is apparent that the Government of Bangladesh will not be able to cover the additional financial burden brought through anthropogenic climate change but seeks continued assistance from the international community. The proposed projects and programs in this country programme were identified in an inclusive multiphase analysis, revision, consultative and prioritisation process. All key stakeholder groups were encouraged to actively engage with the NDA in developing - 3 - Country Programme Date: 04.10.2018 Government of Bangladesh project ideas and submitting those for potential inclusion into the project pipeline. To facilitate this engagement the NDA, supported by UNDP, organised around 40 meetings and 6 workshops with stakeholders from the public, private, and development sector. Through this stakeholder engagement process the NDA received around 230 submissions of project ideas. The initial submissions were screened in perspective to their completeness and potential (e.g. in perspective of being a climate change related project and aligning with key national development and climate change priorities identified in the national development and climate change plans). During this screening, all project/program proponents received a feedback and an extended deadline to revise their concept notes with guidance and clarifications provided. In a second phase, all complete concept notes were rated against seven criteria, which were: i) Climate change attribution/ impact potential