Unacceptable that 40pc of climate change funding BD receives is loan: Saber

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury has said it is unacceptable that almost 40 per cent of climate change funding to Bangladesh is loan.

“That almost 40 per cent of the climate change funding that Bangladesh has received is loan, to be frank, is not acceptable,” he said while speaking as the chief guest during the unveiling of a World Bank report – “Addressing Environmental Pollution Is Critical for Bangladesh’s Growth and Development” – at a Dhaka city hotel on Thursday.

“We do not want to have funding that puts additional burden on us,” he said.

Mr Saber said Bangladesh has not created climate-related problems and so should not bear any burden associated with them.

The minister also said Bangladesh wants preferably grant or concessional fund as climate finance.

He said Bangladesh is a recipient of all kinds of pollution as it is located in the downstream in the region.

Air pollution, unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene, and lead exposure cause over 272,000 premature deaths and 5.2 billion days of illness annually, the World Bank said in its report on Bangladesh environment on Thursday.

These environmental costs were equivalent to 17.6 per cent of Bangladesh's GDP in 2019, according to the report.

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