Sweden, UNDP to continue working on climate adaptation in Bangladesh

Sweden on Thursday signed an agreement at the Sweden Embassy in Dhaka with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which will secure continued support for the Local Government Initiative on Climate Change (LoGIC) project during a new two-year period, 2023-2025.

Swedish Ambassador to Bangladesh Alex Berg von Linde and UNDP Bangladesh Resident Representative Stefan Liller signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations, reads a press release.

LoGIC has been a vehicle for delivering climate adaptation finance and capacities to the poorest and most climate-vulnerable households, unions and upazilas of Bangladesh. The project has been working to build climate resilience in Bangladesh by emphasising the importance of local leadership, innovations, and nature-based solutions. Thousands of vulnerable women and households have been forming savings groups, cooperatives, and enterprises that help them overcome climate-induced disasters and negative impacts and thrive.

During the next two years, the project will be implemented in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and will continue being implemented in the seven most climate-vulnerable districts. The project will also facilitate the institutionalisation of the LoGIC modality for local adaptation financing within the government's national planning, budgeting and allocation system to local governments and communities.

"Sweden is proud to have been part of the journey of co-creating the LoGIC model that assists the most climate vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities, particularly women, affected by climate change," said the Alex Berg von Linde. "The lives of the poorest and most vulnerable people are significantly improved by LoGIC effort. This is the time to scale up this model of local adaption financing that works. They are using it to construct a more sustainable future and to adapt to the effects of climate change," she added.

"UNDP Bangladesh continues to work with the government and partners to mainstream climate change considerations into local level planning and financing processes and support effective adaptation measures," said Stefan Liller. "The LoGIC project is a great example of how international cooperation can help the country address the challenges of climate change. We are grateful to Sweden for their continued support to this and many other important projects  and initiatives in Bangladesh."

LoGIC, launched in 2016, is a multi-donor collaborative initiative of the Government of Bangladesh, UNDP, UNCDF, European Union and Sweden. It aims to enhance the capacity of vulnerable communities, Local Government Institutions (LGI) and civil society organisations for planning and financing climate change adaptation solutions in selected climate-vulnerable areas. Later, Denmark joined the partnership.