Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are a key component underthe Paris Agreement. Bangladesh has submitted its first NDCs in 2015 andoutlined its intended actions across ten different sectors: Food security, livelihoods,and health protection, disaster management, coastal zone management, floodcontrol and erosion protection, climate resilient infrastructure, ruralelectrification, urban resilience, ecosystem-based adaptation, community-basedwetland and coastal conservation, and capacity building. As Bangladesh is oneof the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change, implementingthe adaptation and loss and damage components of its NDCs is of greatimportance. Accordingly, Bangladesh has included not only mitigation actionsbut also adaptation components into its NDCs.
To ensure the effective implementation of NDCs, it is important toidentify the gaps and needs in domestic policies and plans which relate to theNDCs of the country. To address this, a national workshop on Policy Gaps and Needs Analysis for theImplementation of Nationally Determined Contributions on Adaptation and Lossand Damage in Bangladesh was conducted on 31st July, 2019 in Dhaka,Bangladesh.
Theevent was organised by the International Centre for Climate Change andDevelopment (ICCCAD) in collaboration with SLYCAN Trust and the Asia Pacific Networkfor Global Change Research (APN). It focused on sharing the findings of theongoing research on policy gaps and needs for the implementation of adaptationand loss and damage related NDCs of Bangladesh. It also formed part of theregional research led by SLYCAN Trust on identifying and addressing policy gapsand needs for the implementation of NDCs on adaptation and loss and damage inBangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
PoliticalMomentum and Collaborative Climate Action
Chief guest of the event, Dr. Nurul Quadir,Joint Secretary to the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change,noted that 2015 was a landmark year for climate change governance and thatclimate action needs to interlink with sustainable development goals (SDGs).
He also highlighted that loss and damagehas emerged as an important thematic focus that interlinks with disaster riskreduction.
“We need financial and political support toensure that the key issues of focus under the Paris Agreement gain momentum.And we need to work in a collaborative manner,” he added.
Linking NDCs and National AdaptationPlan (NAP)
Mr. Md. Ziaul Haque,Director of the Department of Environment at the Ministry of Environment,Forestry and Climate Change of Bangladesh, presented the current status ofBangladesh’s NDC Implementation and NAP formulation.
“There are a good number of policies and strategies that are veryrelevant to NDCs and NAP activities that are effective, synergistic, andfruitful. There is a need to establish effective coordination among ministriesfor NDC implementation,” he said.
He also added that Bangladesh aims to implement NAP activitieswithin the next three years, and that the country proposes having governingstructures which will include working groups for the implementation of NDCs andthe NAP.
Mr. Haque also appreciated the research initiative and added thatthe government deems initiatives such as this to identify gaps and needs forthe implementation of NDCs as positive and useful.
Addressing Gaps and Needs for ImplementingNDCs
Speaking at the event, Ms. Sharaban Tahura Zaman, research assistant at ICCCAD, presented theinitial findings of the research. She explained that there is a lack ofcoordination among government institutions and that Bangladesh’s NationalAdaptation Plan (NAP) is still not developed. She further differentiatedbetween the implementation of the NDCs on mitigation and adaptation inBangladesh.
“There is noimplementation road map for the adaptation part of Bangladesh’s NDCs like thereis for the mitigation part. Furthermore, financial and technical support shouldbe included in the NDC road map 2018,” she added.
She alsoreferred to the proposed institutional arrangement that Bangladesh has for NDCimplementation, and added that it is not yet operational. Furthermore, shenoted that the advisory committee, coordination committee, and NAPimplementation support should be strengthened.
Following the national workshop, aregional workshop for knowledge sharing, and validation of research findingsunder the research project on policy gaps and needs analysis for the implementationof NDCs on adaptation and loss and damage will be held on the 17thand 18th of September 2019 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The event will seethe participation of government and other key stakeholders working on NDCsimplementation, NAPs, SDGs, and disaster risk reduction.
