About 54.17 per cent of the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust (BCCT) Fund -- established using the government's own resources to tackle the climate crisis -- has been lost due to irregularities and corruption, according to a new study by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB).
The findings were unveiled on Tuesday during a press conference at TIB's Dhaka office, where Md Mahfuzul Haque, senior research fellow, and Md Shahidul Islam, research associate, presented the study titled "Governance Challenges in Climate Finance in Bangladesh and Way Forward."
Although climate-related allocations are made through the regular national budget, they constitute only 23.2 per cent of the annual estimated need, while allocations from national and international climate funds account for just 0.7 per cent, Md Mahfuzul Haque said.
He added that bribery and illegal transactions during project approvals, irregularities in contractor appointments, and embezzlement during project implementation were the main sources of corruption.
TIB warned that these widespread irregularities have resulted in massive wastage of scarce climate funds and undermined the effectiveness of the projects.
Criticising political involvement, TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said the scale and nature of corruption in government-funded projects indicate it has become a specialised area of corruption driven by political collusion.
He noted that various stakeholders -- including BCCT board members and politically influential groups -- have exploited conflicts of interest and abused power, while some implementing officials and contractors engaged in irregular or illegal activities, taking corruption in this sector to unprecedented levels.
Commenting on funding shortfalls, Dr Iftekharuzzaman said only $1.2 billion was realised between 2003 and 2024 to meet an annual demand of $10-12 billion for climate-related projects. Of the limited funding, a significant portion was misappropriated or wasted.
The study found that most corruption occurred during project implementation, particularly under the guise of installing streetlights and solar panels. Between 2019 and 2023, the BCCT board approved 373 projects, of which 216 (57.9 per cent) were related to solar streetlight installation in municipalities and other areas.
Many of these projects had grossly inflated equipment costs -- estimated between 47.1 and 57.1 per cent -- resulting in Tk 1.44-1.75 billion in embezzlement from solar streetlight projects alone.
Over the past 14 years, bribery and illegal transactions during project approval amounted to Tk 1.75 billion, while collusive tendering, contractor recruitment, and subcontract corruption totalled Tk 6.00 billion.
The study also highlighted weaknesses in existing laws, noting the absence of clear regulations and guidelines for fund management and project execution.
It concluded that Bangladesh's climate finance framework suffers from insufficient attention, inadequate budgets, inconsistent project selection, and lack of long-term planning.
TIB urged the government to ensure transparency and accountability in project approval and implementation, prioritise funding based on geographic and vulnerability considerations, bring those involved in corruption to justice, and establish an independent monitoring body to regularly supervise and audit all national and international climate fund projects in Bangladesh.
The organisation also recommended updating the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP) 2009 and other national climate plans, as well as increasing budget allocations for climate-related projects.
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