There is an increasing awareness that climate change may nullify much of the hard earned economic and social gains in Bangladesh. In addressing the problems associated with climate change, the Government of Bangladesh initiated the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP), a 10-year program, in 2008 which was later revised somewhat in 2009. The BCCSAP, purportedly a knowledge-based strategy, is a 10 year action plan to build capacity and resilience within the country to meet climate

change challenges over the next 20-25 years under six thematic areas for implementation. These thematic areas are: (i) food security, social protection, and health; (ii) comprehensive disaster management; (iii) infrastructural development; (iv) research and knowledge management; (v) mitigation and low-carbon development; and (vi) capacity building and institutional strengthening. The BCCSAP has been incorporated within the Sixth Five Year Plan as well as the Perspective Plan for the country.

To operationalise the BCCSAP, the Government also established the National Climate Change Fund and allocated about $45 million to it in the budget for the year 2008-09 which has been replenished several times since then. Furthermore, a Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund, a multi-donor trust fund, was established to pool funds from development partners to implement a long-term strategy to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change in Bangladesh.

Despite all these, there are concerns regarding the slow pace of implementation of the BCCSAP. There has been issues which have come up since the formulation of BCCSAP which have implications for proper implementation of the Action Plan. We are now midway through the planned project period and time is now ripe to revisit the BCCSAP and critically review a few issues of importance.

Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL) initiated a study in 2012 to identify barriers and constraints and to provide a policy direction towards enhanced implementation of BCCSAP including programme prioritization, mainstreaming, and monitoring and evaluation. The study findings and recommendations are listed as follows.

A. Program Prioritization The resources (financial, institutional,

human skill as well as awareness) available for implementing the BCCSAP are limited. Some kind of prioritisation would therefore be necessary to implement them.

There is a need to focus on and prioritise the most vulnerable communities, who also tend to be among the poorest (sometimes called the Climate Vulnerable Poor) as they are the ones who will suffer the adverse impacts the most. This should be a critical requirement to prioritise action plans, programmes and projects under BCCSAP.

B. Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation

Mainstreaming climate change into planning needs to be done at every level (sectoral

ministries, local level planning, NGOs) not just national plans.

The process of mainstreaming has to be grounded on certain principles that inter alia include: precautionary principle, stitching the NAPA and NAP into a coherent whole, realising co-benefits with mitigation, principle of learning by doing, accountability and transparency, participation of all stakeholders, efficiency and cost-effectiveness, synergy with national and sectoral policy objectives and other multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), flexibility and adaptability and subsidiarity i.e. decentralisation of decision-making etc.

The National Adaptation Plans (NAP) process should be seen as a process of mainstreaming rather than producing a stand-alone plan.

For long-term resilience, climate change adaptation (as well as mitigation) needs to be embedded (or mainstreamed) into regular national planning at all level.

C. Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA)

Preparation of a plan for Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action(NAMA)has become an urgent necessity owing to current climate negotiation process.

Appropriate policy direction and action programmes are also required to attract national and international private sectors and other related stakeholders on NAMA.

D. Research and Knowledge Management

There is a lack of thrust on Research and Knowledge Management. It would be imperative to establish a Centre for

Research and Knowledge Management on Climate Change (or a Network of Centres) to ensure Bangladesh has access to the latest ideas and technologies from around the world and to ensure that data is widely and freely available to researchers.

E. Monitoring and Evaluation Attention needs to be put on a robust

monitoring and evaluation procedure to monitor implementation of the projects under the two funds which support BCCSAP.

Both domestic and external funds will be required to be mobilised but will have to be measured, reported, and verified.

F. Policy Support and Institutional Facilitation

Lead ministries and agencies are required to provide policy support and institutional facilitation.Institutionalisation of integrated planning, programing and project preparation is also a must - a beginning is to be made. In fact, Ministry of Planning has started such an initiative.

The implementation of BCCSAP would also require significant strengthening of the coordination capacity of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) with relevant ministries and agencies.

A mechanism needs to be developed over how the government ministries, agencies, non-state actors like the private sector, non-government agencies can be aligned with explicit mandates for actions.

The role of Planning Ministry and MOEF in determining or influencing planning, monitoring implementation and resource allocation needs to be identified and resolved. Furthermore,policy harmonisation and possibly new policies with new developments on climate change would be necessary.

Revisit the BCCSAP-2009Call to Policy Makers

There is an increasing awareness that climate change may nullify much of the hard earned economic and social gains in Bangladesh. In addressing the problems associated with climate change, the Government of Bangladesh initiated the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP), a 10-year program, in 2008 which was later revised somewhat in 2009. The BCCSAP, purportedly a knowledge-based strategy, is a 10 year action plan to build capacity and resilience within the country to meet climate

change challenges over the next 20-25 years under six thematic areas for implementation. These thematic areas are: (i) food security, social protection, and health; (ii) comprehensive disaster management; (iii) infrastructural development; (iv) research and knowledge management; (v) mitigation and low-carbon development; and (vi) capacity building and institutional strengthening. The BCCSAP has been incorporated within the Sixth Five Year Plan as well as the Perspective Plan for the country.

To operationalise the BCCSAP, the Government also established the National Climate Change Fund and allocated about $45 million to it in the budget for the year 2008-09 which has been replenished several times since then. Furthermore, a Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund, a multi-donor trust fund, was established to pool funds from development partners to implement a long-term strategy to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change in Bangladesh.

Despite all these, there are concerns regarding the slow pace of implementation of the BCCSAP. There has been issues which have come up since the formulation of BCCSAP which have implications for proper implementation of the Action Plan. We are now midway through the planned project period and time is now ripe to revisit the BCCSAP and critically review a few issues of importance.

Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL) initiated a study in 2012 to identify barriers and constraints and to provide a policy direction towards enhanced implementation of BCCSAP including programme prioritization, mainstreaming, and monitoring and evaluation. The study findings and recommendations are listed as follows.

A. Program Prioritization The resources (financial, institutional,

human skill as well as awareness) available for implementing the BCCSAP are limited. Some kind of prioritisation would therefore be necessary to implement them.

There is a need to focus on and prioritise the most vulnerable communities, who also tend to be among the poorest (sometimes called the Climate Vulnerable Poor) as they are the ones who will suffer the adverse impacts the most. This should be a critical requirement to prioritise action plans, programmes and projects under BCCSAP.

B. Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation

Mainstreaming climate change into planning needs to be done at every level (sectoral

ministries, local level planning, NGOs) not just national plans.

The process of mainstreaming has to be grounded on certain principles that inter alia include: precautionary principle, stitching the NAPA and NAP into a coherent whole, realising co-benefits with mitigation, principle of learning by doing, accountability and transparency, participation of all stakeholders, efficiency and cost-effectiveness, synergy with national and sectoral policy objectives and other multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), flexibility and adaptability and subsidiarity i.e. decentralisation of decision-making etc.

The National Adaptation Plans (NAP) process should be seen as a process of mainstreaming rather than producing a stand-alone plan.

For long-term resilience, climate change adaptation (as well as mitigation) needs to be embedded (or mainstreamed) into regular national planning at all level.

C. Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA)

Preparation of a plan for Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action(NAMA)has become an urgent necessity owing to current climate negotiation process.

Appropriate policy direction and action programmes are also required to attract national and international private sectors and other related stakeholders on NAMA.

D. Research and Knowledge Management

There is a lack of thrust on Research and Knowledge Management. It would be imperative to establish a Centre for

Research and Knowledge Management on Climate Change (or a Network of Centres) to ensure Bangladesh has access to the latest ideas and technologies from around the world and to ensure that data is widely and freely available to researchers.

E. Monitoring and Evaluation Attention needs to be put on a robust

monitoring and evaluation procedure to monitor implementation of the projects under the two funds which support BCCSAP.

Both domestic and external funds will be required to be mobilised but will have to be measured, reported, and verified.

F. Policy Support and Institutional Facilitation

Lead ministries and agencies are required to provide policy support and institutional facilitation.Institutionalisation of integrated planning, programing and project preparation is also a must - a beginning is to be made. In fact, Ministry of Planning has started such an initiative.

The implementation of BCCSAP would also require significant strengthening of the coordination capacity of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) with relevant ministries and agencies.

A mechanism needs to be developed over how the government ministries, agencies, non-state actors like the private sector, non-government agencies can be aligned with explicit mandates for actions.

The role of Planning Ministry and MOEF in determining or influencing planning, monitoring implementation and resource allocation needs to be identified and resolved. Furthermore,policy harmonisation and possibly new policies with new developments on climate change would be necessary.

There is an increasing awareness that climate change may nullify much of the hard earned economic and social gains in Bangladesh. In addressing the problems associated with climate change, the Government of Bangladesh initiated the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP), a 10-year program, in 2008 which was later revised somewhat in 2009. The BCCSAP, purportedly a knowledge-based strategy, is a 10 year action plan to build capacity and resilience within the country to meet climate

change challenges over the next 20-25 years under six thematic areas for implementation. These thematic areas are: (i) food security, social protection, and health; (ii) comprehensive disaster management; (iii) infrastructural development; (iv) research and knowledge management; (v) mitigation and low-carbon development; and (vi) capacity building and institutional strengthening. The BCCSAP has been incorporated within the Sixth Five Year Plan as well as the Perspective Plan for the country.

To operationalise the BCCSAP, the Government also established the National Climate Change Fund and allocated about $45 million to it in the budget for the year 2008-09 which has been replenished several times since then. Furthermore, a Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund, a multi-donor trust fund, was established to pool funds from development partners to implement a long-term strategy to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change in Bangladesh.

Despite all these, there are concerns regarding the slow pace of implementation of the BCCSAP. There has been issues which have come up since the formulation of BCCSAP which have implications for proper implementation of the Action Plan. We are now midway through the planned project period and time is now ripe to revisit the BCCSAP and critically review a few issues of importance.

Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL) initiated a study in 2012 to identify barriers and constraints and to provide a policy direction towards enhanced implementation of BCCSAP including programme prioritization, mainstreaming, and monitoring and evaluation. The study findings and recommendations are listed as follows.

A. Program Prioritization The resources (financial, institutional,

human skill as well as awareness) available for implementing the BCCSAP are limited. Some kind of prioritisation would therefore be necessary to implement them.

There is a need to focus on and prioritise the most vulnerable communities, who also tend to be among the poorest (sometimes called the Climate Vulnerable Poor) as they are the ones who will suffer the adverse impacts the most. This should be a critical requirement to prioritise action plans, programmes and projects under BCCSAP.

B. Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation

Mainstreaming climate change into planning needs to be done at every level (sectoral

ministries, local level planning, NGOs) not just national plans.

The process of mainstreaming has to be grounded on certain principles that inter alia include: precautionary principle, stitching the NAPA and NAP into a coherent whole, realising co-benefits with mitigation, principle of learning by doing, accountability and transparency, participation of all stakeholders, efficiency and cost-effectiveness, synergy with national and sectoral policy objectives and other multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), flexibility and adaptability and subsidiarity i.e. decentralisation of decision-making etc.

The National Adaptation Plans (NAP) process should be seen as a process of mainstreaming rather than producing a stand-alone plan.

For long-term resilience, climate change adaptation (as well as mitigation) needs to be embedded (or mainstreamed) into regular national planning at all level.

C. Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA)

Preparation of a plan for Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action(NAMA)has become an urgent necessity owing to current climate negotiation process.

Appropriate policy direction and action programmes are also required to attract national and international private sectors and other related stakeholders on NAMA.

D. Research and Knowledge Management

There is a lack of thrust on Research and Knowledge Management. It would be imperative to establish a Centre for

Research and Knowledge Management on Climate Change (or a Network of Centres) to ensure Bangladesh has access to the latest ideas and technologies from around the world and to ensure that data is widely and freely available to researchers.

E. Monitoring and Evaluation Attention needs to be put on a robust

monitoring and evaluation procedure to monitor implementation of the projects under the two funds which support BCCSAP.

Both domestic and external funds will be required to be mobilised but will have to be measured, reported, and verified.

F. Policy Support and Institutional Facilitation

Lead ministries and agencies are required to provide policy support and institutional facilitation.Institutionalisation of integrated planning, programing and project preparation is also a must - a beginning is to be made. In fact, Ministry of Planning has started such an initiative.

The implementation of BCCSAP would also require significant strengthening of the coordination capacity of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) with relevant ministries and agencies.

A mechanism needs to be developed over how the government ministries, agencies, non-state actors like the private sector, non-government agencies can be aligned with explicit mandates for actions.

The role of Planning Ministry and MOEF in determining or influencing planning, monitoring implementation and resource allocation needs to be identified and resolved. Furthermore,policy harmonisation and possibly new policies with new developments on climate change would be necessary.

CO2

There is an increasing awareness that climate change may nullify much of the hard earned economic and social gains in Bangladesh. In addressing the problems associated with climate change, the Government of Bangladesh initiated the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP), a 10-year program, in 2008 which was later revised somewhat in 2009. The BCCSAP, purportedly a knowledge-based strategy, is a 10 year action plan to build capacity and resilience within the country to meet climate

change challenges over the next 20-25 years under six thematic areas for implementation. These thematic areas are: (i) food security, social protection, and health; (ii) comprehensive disaster management; (iii) infrastructural development; (iv) research and knowledge management; (v) mitigation and low-carbon development; and (vi) capacity building and institutional strengthening. The BCCSAP has been incorporated within the Sixth Five Year Plan as well as the Perspective Plan for the country.

To operationalise the BCCSAP, the Government also established the National Climate Change Fund and allocated about $45 million to it in the budget for the year 2008-09 which has been replenished several times since then. Furthermore, a Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund, a multi-donor trust fund, was established to pool funds from development partners to implement a long-term strategy to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change in Bangladesh.

Despite all these, there are concerns regarding the slow pace of implementation of the BCCSAP. There has been issues which have come up since the formulation of BCCSAP which have implications for proper implementation of the Action Plan. We are now midway through the planned project period and time is now ripe to revisit the BCCSAP and critically review a few issues of importance.

Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL) initiated a study in 2012 to identify barriers and constraints and to provide a policy direction towards enhanced implementation of BCCSAP including programme prioritization, mainstreaming, and monitoring and evaluation. The study findings and recommendations are listed as follows.

A. Program Prioritization The resources (financial, institutional,

human skill as well as awareness) available for implementing the BCCSAP are limited. Some kind of prioritisation would therefore be necessary to implement them.

There is a need to focus on and prioritise the most vulnerable communities, who also tend to be among the poorest (sometimes called the Climate Vulnerable Poor) as they are the ones who will suffer the adverse impacts the most. This should be a critical requirement to prioritise action plans, programmes and projects under BCCSAP.

B. Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation

Mainstreaming climate change into planning needs to be done at every level (sectoral

ministries, local level planning, NGOs) not just national plans.

The process of mainstreaming has to be grounded on certain principles that inter alia include: precautionary principle, stitching the NAPA and NAP into a coherent whole, realising co-benefits with mitigation, principle of learning by doing, accountability and transparency, participation of all stakeholders, efficiency and cost-effectiveness, synergy with national and sectoral policy objectives and other multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), flexibility and adaptability and subsidiarity i.e. decentralisation of decision-making etc.

The National Adaptation Plans (NAP) process should be seen as a process of mainstreaming rather than producing a stand-alone plan.

For long-term resilience, climate change adaptation (as well as mitigation) needs to be embedded (or mainstreamed) into regular national planning at all level.

C. Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA)

Preparation of a plan for Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action(NAMA)has become an urgent necessity owing to current climate negotiation process.

Appropriate policy direction and action programmes are also required to attract national and international private sectors and other related stakeholders on NAMA.

D. Research and Knowledge Management

There is a lack of thrust on Research and Knowledge Management. It would be imperative to establish a Centre for

Research and Knowledge Management on Climate Change (or a Network of Centres) to ensure Bangladesh has access to the latest ideas and technologies from around the world and to ensure that data is widely and freely available to researchers.

E. Monitoring and Evaluation Attention needs to be put on a robust

monitoring and evaluation procedure to monitor implementation of the projects under the two funds which support BCCSAP.

Both domestic and external funds will be required to be mobilised but will have to be measured, reported, and verified.

F. Policy Support and Institutional Facilitation

Lead ministries and agencies are required to provide policy support and institutional facilitation.Institutionalisation of integrated planning, programing and project preparation is also a must - a beginning is to be made. In fact, Ministry of Planning has started such an initiative.

The implementation of BCCSAP would also require significant strengthening of the coordination capacity of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) with relevant ministries and agencies.

A mechanism needs to be developed over how the government ministries, agencies, non-state actors like the private sector, non-government agencies can be aligned with explicit mandates for actions.

The role of Planning Ministry and MOEF in determining or influencing planning, monitoring implementation and resource allocation needs to be identified and resolved. Furthermore,policy harmonisation and possibly new policies with new developments on climate change would be necessary.

The study has been conducted by a group of experts under the over-all guidance of Dr. M. Asaduzzaman, BIDS, Dhaka. Other members of the team are Dr. Mahfuzul Haque, Former Secretary and Adjunct Professor, DU, Dhaka; Dr. Mizan R. Khan,

Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences, NSU, Dhaka; Md. Ziaul Haque, Deputy Director, Department of Environment (DoE), Dhaka; Mirza Shawkat Ali, Deputy

Director, Department of Environment (DoE), Dhaka. Mohammad Reazuddin, former Director of Department of Environment acted as the coordinator of the study. We

also acknowledge the contribution of around 120 policy makers and climate actors who contributed in the process through number of consultations on this study.