Under the ‘Strengthening Climate Governance with Grassroots Participation in Bangladesh (SCGGP)’project, WAVE Foundation with support from World Resources Institute (WRI) has been working to strengthen climate governance, disaster preparedness and climate justice by placing communities at the centre of decision-making in climate-vulnerable areas of Patuakhali and Barguna. The project supported union-level annual action plans integrating Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) into Union Parishad budgets, identified hazard-prone areas and designed need-based interventions through community consultation, strengthening transparency, resource allocation and community ownership. As part of this effort, WAVE successfully organized a national-level Climate Governance Symposium, a significant step toward identifying and addressing key barriers to climate justice and community participation. The symposium brought together a total of 121 participants including 28 youth representatives, 18 media professionals, 42 representatives from CBOs, CSOs and local communities and 8 government officials with 39 women participants ensuring meaningful gender representation.
The symposium created an open solution-oriented platform based on social audit research findings focusing on climate-affected communities in Patuakhali and Barguna districts. Through this platform, government officials and community members jointly discussed critical challenges and potential solutions related to climate governance and the distribution of the Climate Resilience and Loss & Damage Fund.
The symposium opened with a panel discussion titled “Challenges and Pathways to Strengthening Local Partnerships,” chaired by Mohsin Ali, Founder and Executive Director of WAVE Foundation. The symposium was graced by Shahanara Yasmin Lily, Joint Secretary (Law Wing), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change as the Special Guest. The keynote paper was presented by Ahmed Borhan, Research Director at the Center for Social Research (CSR) while Naseefa Ali, Deputy Executive Director of WAVE Foundation shared a brief overview of the project. The discussion was moderated by Kaniz Fatema, Deputy Director of WAVE Foundation.
A central issue highlighted during the discussions was the lack of community ownership which has led to inconsistencies in the Climate Resilience and Loss & Damage Fund distribution and widened communication gaps between service providers and beneficiaries. It was noted that community members are often excluded from decision-making processes and limited engagement by local authorities has resulted in a lack of trust ultimately hindering participatory governance.
To address these challenges, the symposium emphasized the importance of adopting a bottom-up approach in which communities are not merely consulted but actively involved in decision-making and budget allocation. The dialogue explored how the government can integrate community-driven solutions into the Annual Development Programme (ADP) and budget allocation mechanisms. Key recommendations included ensuring transparent budgeting processes and empowering local governments to allocate resources in line with community needs.
Another important issue raised at the symposium was the need to revitalize ward meetings and institutionalize open budget sessions. These measures were identified as essential to ensuring the effective use of funds for climate adaptation projects and enhancing transparency in resource allocation. Through this initiative, the importance of meaningful community participation was further strengthened particularly in the planning and implementation of development and climate projects. Ensuring representative and active community engagement is critical to advancing climate justice and good governance. This process has supported the development of a feedback-based governance system that incorporates community perspectives into decision-making leading to greater transparency and strengthened community leadership.
Through the SCGGP project, the community dialogue process is promoting climate resilience and social inclusion nationwide laying a strong foundation for the success of local-level climate initiatives and reinforcing community participation, sound climate governance and social justice.
