Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr. Farhina Ahmed said that priority will be given to research and innovative projects in accepting projects funded by Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCT). She also said, appropriate initiatives will be taken to take up required number of projects in extreme climate vulnerable areas.  For this purpose, the relevant laws, regulations, rules will be amended as necessary.

The Environment  Secretary  said these things in the speech of the chief guest at the national level workshop organized to present the evaluation report of 45 projects implemented from 2009 to 2017 funded by Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund at CIRDAP International Conference Center on Tuesday (January 2) in the Capital.

The Environment Secretary said, BCCT and the Environment  Ministry will immediately take some steps based on the recommendations of experts to make the activities of BCCT more acceptable to the people.  On the basis of this report, initiatives will be taken to increase the skills of project stakeholders.  He called upon the enterprising organization to continue climte activities even after the completion of the project funded by the Climate Change Trust.

The final draft report of the evaluation of 45 projects was presented in detail with recommendations by the team leader of the evaluation team and Climate Change Expert Dr. Fazle Rabbi Sadek Ahmed. He said BCCT-funded projects are to achieve thematic goals set in the BCCSAP, 2009. To achieve better results on climate change adaptation and mitigation projects, BBCT must act fast to streamline the project management activities, from receiving proposals to monitoring, evaluating, and reporting. Strong adherence to the BCCT Act, along with the BCCT Fund Utilization Guidelines, should be the point of inclination in this regard. The BCCT should implement projects to reduce the climate change- induced vulnerability of the country, as well as participating in GHG emission reduction with the global effort. Finally, effectiveness and long-term sustainability should be the central goals from approval to completion of any project or programme.

Additional Secretary (Administration) Iqbal Abdullah Harun, Additional Secretary (Climate Change) Sanjay Kumar Bhowmik, Emeritus Professor of BRAC University Dr. Ainun Nishat were present as special guests in the national workshop held under the chairmanship of Managing Director of Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Md. Zainal Abedin.  The members of the consulting team and the representatives of various government and private agencies attended the event also spoke.