Over half of Bangladesh’s climate fund marred by corruption: TIB

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has found that more than half of the allocations from the country’s national climate fund have been affected by corruption, exposing serious governance failures in the management of climate finance.

According to a TIB study released on Tuesday, 54 per cent of the allocations made from the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust (BCCT) between 2010 and 2024 were tainted by irregularities.

The estimated value of corruption in 891 projects during this period stands at $248.4 million, equivalent to about Tk 21.11 billion.

The findings were unveiled at a press conference held at the TIB office in Dhaka, where the organisation launched its research titled “Challenges and Way Forward for Good Governance in Climate Finance in Bangladesh.”

The report said a total of $458.5 million was approved from the BCCT fund over the 14-year period.

Political considerations and collusion among trustee board and technical committee members often influenced project approvals, while BCCT officials failed to take effective preventive measures, the study observed.

Despite growing climate vulnerabilities, Bangladesh’s access to adequate financing remains minimal. The country requires $12.5 billion annually to address climate impacts, but between 2015 and 2023, it received an average of only $86.2 million a year from both national and international sources — just 0.7 per cent of the required amount.

The report noted that allocations from the national fund have declined at an annual rate of 8.2 per cent, while funding from international sources has increased by 43.8 per cent.

TIB also highlighted poor project implementation performance.

Out of 891 projects under the national fund, 61.6 per cent had their timelines extended.

The average project duration increased from 648 days to 1,515 days — a 133.8 per cent rise.

In some cases, projects initially designed for four years took as long as 14 years to complete.

Similar delays were found in internationally funded projects, with 41.2 per cent of 51 projects extended.

“Bangladesh needs between $10 billion and $12 billion annually as climate compensation,” said Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of TIB. “But between 2003 and 2024, the country received only $1.2 billion, which is extremely insignificant,” he added, calling for greater transparency, accountability, and efficiency in managing climate finance.

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