UK Climate Project
A UK-funded climate project in Bangladesh is being forced to close two years early due to aid cuts, leaving thousands of vulnerable people without support
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is cutting its foreign aid budget, which will fall from 0.5 per cent to 0.3 per cent of Gross National Income. This has resulted in a UK-funded climate project in Bangladesh being forced to close two years early, leaving thousands of vulnerable people without support.
Background
The project, managed by British development charity Practical Action, aimed to transform the lives of tens of thousands of people through interventions including solar power systems, climate-resilient agriculture, and weather information systems. The project was launched in 2023 and was expected to run until 2028, but it will now end in September 2026.
The cuts have been labelled a “moral catastrophe” by many observers, with Labour MP and chair of the International Development Committee Sarah Champion commenting that the early closure of the project raises serious questions about the UK's commitment to supporting low-income countries as they respond to climate change.
Impact
The early closure of the project will have a significant impact on the communities supported by Practical Action, who live on the fringes of the Sundarbans, a vast 10,277km² mangrove forest. The communities have traditionally depended on the forest for products including fish, firewood, and honey, but many now also farm. However, widespread illiteracy and their isolation from the wider Bangladeshi economy leave them among the country’s most marginalised communities.
The project has provided support to over 37,000 people, including Bina Mondal, who received a small solar panel that has helped her earn more income. Another villager, Bashonti Mondal, received a new solar-powered rice-husking machine, which has allowed her to earn a higher income from home.
Funding
The UK-Bangladesh bilateral aid programme is set to fall in value from £66.7 million to £31m between 2025/6 and 2026/7. The cut to Practical Action’s project forms a fraction of this overall cut. The charity was supposed to have received £2.2m by 2026, but ended up receiving “far less than this”. The project was supposed to reach 57,000 people by the end of this year, but will in the end only reach 37,000 people.
| Category | 2025/6 | 2026/7 |
|---|---|---|
| UK-Bangladesh bilateral aid programme | £66.7 million | £31m |
| Practical Action funding | £2.2m | far less than £2.2m |
| Project reach | 57,000 people | 37,000 people |
Tamanna Rahma, climate resilience lead for Practical Action Bangladesh, has expressed concerns about the impact of the aid cuts on the most marginalised and vulnerable communities in Bangladesh. She suggests that private capital may not be able to fill the gap left by the cuts, as people in these communities do not have significant monetary income and transportation and infrastructure are virtually non-existent.
The early closure of the project has also been damaging due to the fact that the target communities need as much support as possible to adapt to the climate crisis. The Sundarbans is facing a sea level rise of roughly 3cm per year, which is displacing communities and ruining once-fertile soil. The project's interventions, including a scheme to support a pool of 140 entrepreneurs, will essentially go to waste due to the early closure.
