The Transparency International Bangladesh on Tuesday raised corruption allegations against the Green Climate Fund, the largest global climate fund for victim countries, saying that it lacks good governance and accountability.
The anti-corruption watchdog also blamed the GCF authorities to favour international institutions, hampering growth of national entities to access the fund and victimising the climate vulnerable nations drawing them into loan traps.
The TIB came up with the allegations against the GCF, formed under the Canc煤n Agreements in 2010, in a research report published at the TIB headquarters in the capital.
The watchdog said that the GCF is behaving with the same neglect with all the climate victims and vulnerable countries, including Bangladesh.
It found that the GCF has released insignificant amount of funds to the vulnerable countries which goes against its commitment, and channelled more funds to mitigation purposes and as loan, violating its聽 rules which clearly shows its bad intention.
The TIB conducted the research between January 2023 and May 2024 when it contacted the GCF but the agency allegedly did not cooperate with them by not answering the watchdog鈥檚 queries.
According to the research report, the GCF between 2015 and 2023 allocated $13.5 billion for 243 projects in different countries, but released only $3.8 billion. Of the allocated $13.5 billion, 56 per cent is for projects centring on mitigation and 44 per cent for projects centring adaptation which is a violation of the GCF rules.
The Green Climate Fund had primarily committed to allocating adaptation funds as grants, but now it is more interested in funding mitigation projects, and that again not as grants, but as loans through international agencies, the TIB alleged.
The study report also reads that out of the total $13.5 billion allocations, only $1.1 billion is for national entities, $1.6 billion for regional ones, while $10.8 billion for international entities.
Of the released money, a whopping 39.4 per cent went to only five international entities, while 40.4 per cent went to another 22 international entities. It means merely 20.2 per cent went to regional and national entities.
Of the $13.5 billion allocation, 40.6 per cent has been kept aside for giving 鈥榮ingle-financed鈥� loans which means there is no requirement for matching the loan fund, while 56.2 per cent has been kept under a co-financing programme under which the loan receiving agencies are asked to match the loan funds.
TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman at the report launching event said that the GCF imposed arbitrary clauses on national entities wishing to access the fund, while it awarded projects free hand to international entities that have corruption allegations against them.
鈥楾he GCF allocated the highest 38 projects to the UNDP keeping corruption allegations against it unresolved,鈥� said Iftekharuzzaman.
TIB researcher Shahidul Islam said that while the GCF allocated only $442.7 million for Bangladesh, it released merely 13.3 per cent of the money so far against its nine projects.
Saying that the GCF鈥檚 actions have aggravated the climate vulnerable communities鈥� sufferings, the TIB asked the agency to ensure transparency and accountability within the institution.
TIB executive management adviser Sumaiya Khair said that the GCF鈥檚 accountability must be ensured under the UN system, as the fund was created under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Iftekharuzzaman, however, expressed doubt over the possible measures from the UN to rectify the problems of the GCF as it itself garners favour from the agency.
Among others, TIB directors Mohammad Badiuzzaman, Mohammad Touhidul Islam and senior researcher Mahfuzul Haque were present at the event.
