The government and the development partners, on Thursday, have decided to extend the Local Government Initiative on Climate Change (LoGIC) project for two more years for delivering adaptation benefit to the most vulnerable coastal people of Bangladesh.
The decision came at a virtual meeting attended by the Local Government, Rural Development & Cooperatives (LGRD&C) Minister, Md. Tazul Islam, Ambassador and the Head of Delegation to the European Union to Bangladesh, RensjeTeerink, Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Sweden, Christine Johansson, representatives from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).
Local Government Initiative on Climate Change, (LoGIC) project, led by the Local Government Division of the Ministry of LGRD&C, is a joint four-year initiative of the Government of Bangladesh, EU, Sweden, UNCDF and UNDP.
The project initiated in 2016 with an aim to deliver climate finance to the most vulnerable households and the local government institutions in 72 unions of Khulna, Sunamganj, Kurigram, Bagerhat, Barguna, Patuakhali and Bhola districts.
The five-year project is designed to roughly support 400,000 most climate-vulnerable people under its Performance-Based Climate Resilience Grants (PBCRG) and Community Resilience Fund (CRF) schemes.
Attending the event as the chief guest, LGRD&C Minister, Md. Tazul Islam said, “LoGIC project is proven as a good system to deliver climate finance through local government institutions directly reaching the climate vulnerable people to invest on local adaptation”.
He also thanked all the development partners for standing beside the most climate-vulnerable people of Bangladesh along with the government.
Rensje Teerink highlighted EU’s decade long support to Bangladesh in combating climate change. She said, “As EU, we are supporting the Government to create a system to bring climate finance to most climate- and economic- vulnerable households. Through LoGIC, together with Sweden, UNDP, UNCDF and thanks to the strong ownership of Local Government Division this mechanism is now being put in place. The recent addition of approximately 7.0 million Euros goes in the right direction and brings innovation for climate finance in Bangladesh. We look forward to continuing partnering with local government actors to ensure climate funds go where they are most needed, embracing a long-term perspective,”.
Christine Johansson said, “Bangladesh is not just a victim of climate change; the country has also become a global leader on adaptation. LoGIC is one example. Sweden is proud to be part of the solutions with the people of Bangladesh.”
Van Nguyen, the Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP Bangladesh, stressed the importance of a collaborative approach like LoGIC to deal with the greatest threat to mankind, climate change. She said, “UNDP is committed to transcending the knowledge from LoGIC project across global networks. We hope to continue our global cooperation by working collaboratively with development partners and the government to help attain the LDC graduation and Sustainable Development Goals by 2030”.
Earlier, Saila Farzana, Joint Secretary, Local Government Division & the National Project Director, LoGIC Project, gave the overview of the project. She said, “The Local Government’s capabilities are key to support climate vulnerable people. Based on positive impacts of the current phase of LoGIC project, which ends in June 2021, the government and development partners decided to extend it two more years to reach out to more vulnerable people.
Among others, Helal Uddin Ahmed, Senior Secretary, Local Government Division, and Jesmul Hasan, Country Focal Point, UNCDF, also spoke at the virtual event.