Chief adviser's press secretary seeks $12b as annual climate compensation

“We are receiving $340-$350 million as grants and an additional $250 million as loan annually against incurring losses worth USD$12 billion,” Chief Adviser’s press secretary Shahfiqul Alam said at the sideline of the COP29 conference at Baku in Azerbaijan.

Chief Adviser of the interim government, Prof Muhammad Yunus, has already asked 29 non-government organisations (NGOs) and civil societies, who are participating from Bangladesh, to raise the voice on the climate crisis fund in favour of the country.

He mentioned that recent floods in eastern Bangladesh caused an estimated damage of around $1.20 billion.

Alam added that Bangladesh, for the first time, experienced unusual floods in Mymensing and Sherpur as well as unusual heat waves in April, 2024.

“So, we will fix our demand on climate finance this year with the global south,” he said. 

Prof Yunus will make a new call for global civilisation to end fossil fuels and expand renewables through technology transfer.

The government has no plan to pull out the coal-fired plants for survival of the economy, he said. But the government moves to a transition of energy to net zero, according to the press secretary.