Speakers at a national dialogue on mainstreaming the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) emphasised integrating climate change adaptation into the national development planning process.
They also called for making the implementation locally-led adaptation by taking into consideration the local vulnerability factors, according to a UNDP statement.
The dialogue held on Sunday was jointly organised by the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC), Economic Relations Division (ERD) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
Dr Ainun Nishat, Professor Emeritus, C3ER, BRAC University and team leader, NAP Formulation Consortium, made a presentation on mainstreaming the NAP while Malik Fida A Khan, executive director, CEGIS, presented the draft NAP.
Planning Minister MA Mannan was present as the chief guest while Habibun Nahar, deputy minister of the MoEFCC, Fatima Yasmin, ERD secretary, Pradip Ranjan Chakraborty, secretary, planning division and member, Programming, Planning Commission, and Sudipto Mukerjee, resident representative of UNDP, were present as special guests.
Md Mostafa Kamal, secretary of the MoEFCC, chaired the session.
Welcoming the participants, Md Mizanul Hoque Chowdhury, additional secretary (Climate Change Wing) and National Project Director, NAP, said, "In formulating the NAP, we have conducted participatory consultations in climate-vulnerable regions involving the most vulnerable communities and people".
"As we formulate NAP, we need an implementation roadmap as well as integrate it in our development planning to realise the national development goals" he added.
Dr Ainun Nishat said, "NAP is complementary to the National development planning, including the Delta Plan 2100, Five Year Plans to make our adaptation approach sustainable and effective."
For successful implementation, every ministry should integrate climate change adaptation in their respective planning and financing process, he said emphasising making the NAP a legally binding reference for successful implementation of the NAP.
Echoing the need for the Climate Change Act, Ms Fatima Yasmin said, "We are hopeful that NAP will be a comprehensive strategy to adapt to the changing climate."
Mr Mukerjee said, "Data management is very important in effective planning. Efforts should be there to make climate change data available for effective planning".
Mr Chakraborty said they would work closely with the planning ministry for the inclusion of climate change adaptation into development planning.
"Our adaptation efforts should also consider the disaster impact assessment for successful planning of adaptation projects," he added.
"We are confident that we will be able to showcase the world our success in climate change adaptation - NAP will be our blueprint of adaptation," said deputy minister Habibun Nahar.
"As the planning minister, I assure you of all possible support from the Ministry of Planning in integrating climate change adaptation into the development planning process," said minister M A Mannan.
"The Project Executive Committees should prioritise adaptation for successful implementation of the NAP," he noted.
Md Mostafa Kamal said, "For a climate-vulnerable country like Bangladesh, human displacement is a critical issue in climate change adaptation - NAP must address this issue to support lives and livelihood of the climate-vulnerable people."
According to the statement, NAP envisions reducing climate risks and vulnerability through effective adaptation strategies for fostering a resilient society ecosystem and stimulating sustainable economic growth.
In doing so, Bangladesh will materialise the NAP through the promotion of green growth strategies supported by sustainable nature-based solutions.
NAP is a locally-led process built upon ecosystem-based adaptation that will create a balance between economic growth and environmental sustainability, it added.
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