Bangladesh cannot fight climate change while tolerating corruption in its own climate funds. Transparency International Bangladesh’s new report revealing that 248 million dollars vanished from 891 projects is a national disgrace. More than half of all initiatives under the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust were tainted by graft, delays, and political favoritism.
Powerful figures exploited a system meant to protect the nation’s future, turning it into another cash machine for cronies. Projects that should have taken four years dragged on for up to fourteen, while oversight boards looked the other way.
This is not simply mismanagement. It is theft from the country’s poorest citizens and coastal communities already living with rising seas. The government must open every file, suspend implicated officials, and create an independent audit body for all climate funds. Without transparency and prosecution, Bangladesh will continue losing both its credibility and its coast.