BRAC, KfW launch Climate Bridge Fund

BRAC and the German Development Bank KfW on behalf of the German government, have jointly launched a trust fund titled ‘Climate Bridge Fund’ with an initial amount of 11.735 million Euro.

The ‘Climate Bridge Fund’ has been developed through collaboration between the two organisations with the objective of strengthening the resilience of climate vulnerable communities in Bangladesh.

The Fund was initiated in November last year and is now ready to start its activities, BRAC said in a statement after the launch on Wednesday.

At the core of the ‘Climate Bridge Fund’ activities will be vulnerable people in urban areas who are either displaced or at the risk of being displaced due the impacts of climate change.

In the beginning, the Climate Bridge Fund will concentrate its support to vulnerable communities in Khulna, Barishal, Rajshahi, Satkhira and Sirajganj.

The individual projects will be undertaken by NGOs with expertise in urban slum areas which can apply for funding at the climate Bridge Fund. Within a defined budget limit, BRAC will also implement projects with the funding of the Fund.

“Climate Change is a critical challenge globally, and this will be the key focus of BRAC for the next five years,” Asif Saleh, executive director, BRAC, said at the launching event in Dhaka.

“This fund is a unique initiative for Bangladesh which will encourage and enable sustainable operations as well as scaling up of traditional development projects into climate change projects,” he added.

Anirban Kundu, country director, KfW Development Bank, said it was “proud” to establish the Fund together with BRAC. The Fund is going to provide long term financing gaps in local level adaptation in urban areas, he said.

High government officials as well as members from different national and international NGOs and donor communities were also present.