The Government of Bangladesh (GoB) has taken a number of prudent steps to create an enabling environment for the private sector to accelerate overall national economic development. Bangladesh being particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and its economy highly dependent on the private sector that significantly contributes to the Gross Domestic Product and employment, requires proactive support from private sector to also better invest in and implement climate action.

Although the private sector in Bangladesh has been playing its due role as an effective economic agent (74.55 percent of total investment in the national economy came from private sector in year 2013-2014) and has been making substantial contribution to the overall economic development of the country's energy, infrastructure and technology sectors, private sector investment on climate action hasn't gained impactful momentum.

There is a robust and dynamic private sector in Bangladesh which can capitalise on opportunities provided by international climate finance. Bangladesh has struggled with engaging the private sector in a meaningful way to support businesses in their role as a critical engine of climate compatible development. This has been partly due to shortage of knowledge, capacity and skills required to mobilise private actors on climate compatible development.[1]

Since CDKN aims to support business as a driver of climate compatible development, private banks and financial institutions in Bangladesh requested CDKN’s support in building their capacity and raising awareness on climate finance mechanisms particularly to support access to international funds from the Private Sector Facility window of Green Climate Fund.

CDKN provided support through three components:

1. Awareness raising - Informing the private sector of the opportunity presented by climate compatible development and the GCF and building consensus on the role of the private sector in addressing climate change in Bangladesh
2. Institutional Assessment - Supporting the Government of Bangladesh with information to help with an informed decision making process for selection of the right entity/entities for accreditation to Private Sector Facility
3. Strengthening institutional capacities - Supporting private banks and financial institutions to gain strategic access to and use of climate finance resources for implementation of climate mitigation and adaptation activities

Click here to read flyer for more details on project activities and timeline.

Publications

How can Bangladesh's private sector engage with the Green Climate Fund?

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) aims to help developing countries achieve their ambition for low-carbon resilient development. While the private sector in Bangladesh has shown interest in seizing the opportunities offered by the fund, it has not had the knowledge it needs to access it. This toolkit aims to address this situation, providing a snapshot of GCF mechanisms, processes and procedures, giving potential applicants the necessary information to effectively engage with the fund and its Private Sector Facility (PSF). It is designed for use by commercial banks, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), suppliers and manufactures or investors that want to channel and manage GCF funds towards climate-relevant projects and programmes, or develop and implement projects themselves. Click here to download the toolkit.

GCF Project Toolkit 2017. Guide to develop a Project proposal for the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

Acclimatise, in partnership with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) is launching a new toolkit with support from the Climate and Development Knowledge Network’s ‘Building readiness of the private sector in Bangladesh for GCF accreditation’ project.

This toolkit aims to help the Bangladeshi private sector understand how to fulfil the GCF’s requirements when developing fully-fledged funding proposals, by acquainting them with the GCF project cycle, proposal template form and key project design requirements. It also provides the Bangladeshi private sector with a detailed checklist to start preparing a GCF project concept. Click here to download the toolkit.

Learning Paper from Private sector readiness in Bangladesh

This learning paper aims to inform on the lessons learnt and key challenges faced in the implementation of the project to build the readiness of the Bangladeshi private sector to access the GCF. It is aimed at development partners supporting governments and institutions from developing countries in accessing the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the GCF secretariat and its National Designated Authorities (NDAs) or Focal Points (FPs). Click here to download the paper.

CDKN Funding: £120,000

[1] PwC, 2013. Stimulating private sector engagement and investment in building disaster resilience and climate change adaptation: Country Case Studies