Page - 467 - in Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Concepts, Methods and Policy Options

19 TowardsEstablishingaNationalMechanism… 467 addresses losses anddamagesmoreholistic andcomprehensivemanner.Ascoping paper (Huqet al. 2016)ondevelopinganationalmechanismoffers a framework to address Loss andDamage and documents the current efforts being undertaken to establish such a system.According toHuq et al. (2016), to develop local, national and international policy and institutional frameworks to addressLoss andDamage, it isfirst essential to identify,measureandcharacterise lossesanddamages faced in Bangladesh.Understanding andquantifying losses anddamages experienced from various climatic events, taking into account the social, economic andgeographical contexts inwhichtheyoccur is thefirst step towardsbuildinganationalmechanism. The scopingpaper argues for a centralisedmechanism that facilitates thecoordina- tionbetweenMoDMRandMoEF,disbursefinancing,monitorandevaluateprograms toaddressclimate induced lossesanddamages inBangladesh. Overtheyears,Bangladeshipolicymakersandpractitionershaveacquiredknowl- edge and expertise on disastermanagement and climate adaptation, making them highly capacitated to plan, strategise and execute climate policies. Both the politi- cal/bureaucraticandtechnicalspheres involvedin theclimateanddisastersectorare motivated and committed to preventing theworst of climate impacts impeding the development of the nation. TheBangladesh delegation is an activemember of the LDCnegotiatingbloc in theUNFCCC.Moreover, a seniorbureaucratof theMoEF currently sits on theExecutiveCommitteeof theWarsaw InternationalMechanism onLossandDamage (WIM). In 2012 theGovernment ofBangladesh initiated the “Loss andDamage inVul- nerable Countries Initiative,” a pioneering study on understanding the issue. The initiativecommissionedanumberof studieson lossesanddamages,whichbrought together climate change researchers, academics, practitioners andNGOsanddeep- ened their knowledge, capacity and expertise on this issue. The initiative created awareness,understandingandasystematicbodyofworkthat laid thefoundationfor an intellectual andpracticalunderstandingof lossesanddamages. The human and institutional capacity and commonmandate of theMoEF and MoDMRtoreducevulnerabilityandbuildresiliencemeansthatthereismuchpoten- tial toestablishamechanismtoaddressclimateLossandDamage.Thisreservefund ofapproximatelyUSD135millionor34%oftheBangladeshClimateChangeTrust Fund creates a financial resource base to setup such amechanismwith domestic resources. Huq et al. (2016) recommends developing the national mechanism on LossandDamagebasedonthecountry’scurrentadaptationanddisaster riskfinance frameworks. This section further highlights the current efforts being undertaken in the country to establish such a nationalmechanism to account for climate induced lossesanddamagesmoreholisticallylookinginwardatthecompetenciesthatalready exist in thecountry.