The Climate Bridge Fund, established by BRAC in collaboration with the Government of Germany through KfW in 2019, is aimed to strengthen the resilience of climate-vulnerable communities and climate-displaced populations in Bangladesh.
Author(s): Md. Mahbub Ul Hassan Sharan
Timeline: 2022-2024
Status: Completed
Contact: Md. Mahbub Ul Hassan Sharan; mahbubul.hassan@bracu.ac.bd
Context
As one of the most climate-affected countries globally, Bangladesh grapples with rising sea levels, erratic rainfall, salinity intrusion, and frequent natural disasters, which exacerbate poverty and displacement, particularly in rural and low-income urban areas. The Climate Bridge Fund (CBF) supports targeted interventions aimed at improving the resilience of these vulnerable communities by focusing on sustainable livelihoods, skills development, and climate adaptation. In this Evidence & Insights, we draw on evaluations of seven projects that were funded through one of the early rounds of the CBF mechanism.
Methodology
The study adopted quasi-experimental methods in these evaluations. The studies were designed to utilize panel data collected at both baseline and endline, employing a combination of difference-in-differences (DiD) and propensity score matching (PSM) methods to evaluate the impact of the projects on their target groups. While this could be applied to most of the projects, some adjustments were made to accommodate changes in target groups and timing of the interventions.
During the survey, comparison group households and respondents were identified from the communities located in the intervention districts and based on the socioeconomic similarities with the intervention group. Efforts were made to revisit all households surveyed during the baseline. However, some attrition occurred due to relocation, unwillingness to participate, or program dropout. As intervention and comparison groups could not be randomly allocated, the PSM method was applied to reduce the influence of selection bias on the outcomes.
Findings
The projects have demonstrated notable impacts on the incomes of climate-vulnerable households across most projects. These impacts were achieved through diverse interventions such as skills training, business support, and climate-resilient agricultural practices. However, the magnitude and distribution of these income gains varied significantly across the seven projects, reflecting differences in their design, target groups, and implementation strategies.
Individual income improvements were observed across projects, although the extent of these gains varied widely. Savings were a key factor in financial resilience across all projects, with intervention groups consistently reporting higher savings than comparison groups. These seven CBF-funded projects have also had varied levels of social impact on vulnerable populations across Bangladesh, with significant strides made in areas such as women’s empowerment, youth employability, social safety net access, mental health, and community engagement. One of the central social outcomes of the CBF projects has been the empowerment of women, particularly in the areas of decision-making, income control, and community engagement. Climate awareness was a common theme across all projects, with intervention groups generally showing high familiarity.
