Policy Support Programme

Programme theme: Policy, partnership, knowledge.
Programme activity: Learning Hub Event (LHE)
Team Members:

Saqib Huq
Coordinator
Noor-E- Elahi
Programme Assistant

Programme description:
Regardless of the Government of Bangladesh’s (GoB) recognition of climate change as a development issue, appropriate understanding of climate change related issues and knowledge sharing platforms for comprehending pertinent issues in different sectors, is lacking. This will eventually affect policy decisions, development planning, and implementation of interventions. A constructive knowledge sharing platform can facilitate an exchange of learning and understanding of cross-country experiences on climate change planning and climate financing among the GoB officials. This will eventually contribute to effective policy decisions and their implementation through development planning.

This programme aims to provide support to the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) to make informed and evidence based decisions around pro poor resilient development by leveraging learning, evidence and exchange on climate responsive actions.

Description of programme activity:
The LHE, organized jointly with the Ministry of Bangladesh, consists of a half-day event that focuses on a topic of interest to the concerned ministry (hence it is demand driven). Once a topic is agreed with the ministry, suitable experts (who have relevant research/expertise and are willing to present) are considered for the presentation. The idea is to deliver research outcomes from national and global contexts, which further help in policy making. The founding principle of the LHE was to target national plans like the Five Year Plan, Perspective Plan etc. The LHE informs policy makers about climate change issues so that they can be incorporated into planning processes in Bangladesh. The platform itself is a unique way of disseminating knowledge products developed by researchers and government representatives.

Programme Objective:

  • To raise awareness among policy makers of the opportunities and risks associated with climate change in socio-economic development in Bangladesh.
  • To gather and share relevant knowledge and lessons derived from cross-country experiences on particular development issues in order to formulate a framework for better policy making approaches.
  • To provide guidance in formulating public policy priority actions and strategies to accelerate sustainable development by combating the vulnerability of climate change and incorporating this issue in the mainstreaming of national development planning.

Government Entities under this umbrella and number of LHEs done with them


Government entity name LHEs done Topics covered
General Economics Division (GED), Ministry of Planning 14 • Scenario Planning for the Upcoming 7th Five Year Plan of Bangladesh;
• Monitoring & Evaluation Tracking Climate Finance Effectiveness;
• Tackling Urbanization and Climate Change Together;
• Nutrition and Food Security: A Comprehensive and Adaptive Agricultural Development;
• Climate Change and Migration;
• BD2050- Bangladesh Energy, Emission, and Food Security Modeling Tool;
• Bangladesh Delta plan 2100 in times of Climate Change;
• Green Economy: Global and Bangladesh Perspective;
• Recap of the Past Sessions and Future Plans;
• Green growth: Best practices for future;
• Global scenario of climate change;
• Identifying High Priority Clean Energy Investment Opportunities for Bangladesh.
• Bangladesh Climate Change Plans and Strategies: A BDP 2100 and Renewable Energy Perspective
Economic Relations Division (ERD), Ministry of Finance 3 • Climate Change Politics: Global and National Context;
• Climate Change funding and Setting up strategies against ‘climate change denial movement’ by Trump Administration;
• Private Sector Facility (PSF) of Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Climate Finance Tracking: Prospect of Bangladesh
Programming Division, Ministry of Planning 4 • Mainstreaming Low Emission Development Strategies (LEDS) in National Planning and Programming Process;
• Climate Services across government agencies: Presentation of the Bangladesh Academy for Climate Services (BACS);
• Zero Hunger – Zero Emissions Project findings• International Trend of Renewable Energy: Focusing on the Cases of South Asia and Bangladesh
Socio Economic and Infrastructure Division, Ministry of Planning 1 • Mainstreaming Climate Change Into Socioeconomic Infrastructure Planning
Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development & Cooperatives 1 • Climate Change: From Words to Actions
Sustainable and Renewable Energy Authority (SREDA), Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources 1 • SDG Implementation Process: Potential and Challenges of Renewable Energy in Bangladesh
Bangladesh Institute with Planners (BIP) 1 • Climate Change Responsive Urban Planning
Municipal Association of Bangladesh (MAB) 1 • Easing the Pressure: Development of Climate Resilient Migrant-Friendly Secondary Cities

Memorandum of Understanding:


Government Entity Validity
• Economics Relations Division (ERD) Phased out in July 2018 (Renewal is under processing)
• Sustainable and Renewable Energy Authority (SREDA) July 2018 to July 2020
• Programming Division, Planning Division September 2018 to September 2019

Projects so far:


Project Title Donor Duration
• ‘Learning Hub Event (LHE)’ to support pro-poor climate responsive policy decisions in Bangladesh. • Department for International Development (DfID), UK • April 2015 – March 2016
• Gobeshona Young Researcher Programme(GYRP) • United States Agency for International Development (USAID) • October 2016 to March 2018
• Increasing awareness and understanding of the benefits of renewable energy in Bangladesh • European Climate Foundation (ECF) • September 2017 to August 2018