Climate fund transparent
Says environment ministry
The Climate Change Unit (CCU) of the environment ministry has said the ministry maintains transparency in allocating the climate change fund.
The CCU made the statement yesterday as a response to what environment experts and a member of all-party parliamentary committee on climate change said at a workshop organised by Transparency International Bangladesh on Sunday.
A CCU press release signed by its Director Rashedul Islam says allocation of money from Climate Change Trust Fund, a domestic funding, is done by a 17-member trustee board comprising ministers, cabinet secretary, Bangladesh Bank governor, top civil servants and two civil society representatives.
The board "having followed all the legal procedures" has so far allocated Tk 698 crore for 62 government projects. No fund has yet been disbursed for non-government organisations.
And Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund, set up of donors' contributions, is being governed by the World Bank, says the press release.
A number of NGO workers from across the country at the workshop decried the way the climate funds are being allocated.
The press release claimed all information regarding allocation of the funds is posted on the ministry's website.
Saber Hossain Chowdhury, chairman of all-party parliamentary committee on climate change, said at the workshop that no transparent set of guidelines was followed for allocation of climate fund for the non-government organisations.
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