Pathways to Implementing the National Roadmap and Global Tools for NbS

Roundtable Discussion #1: Validation of Integrated Analysis and Priority Investment Cases

Background

Bangladesh faces escalating climate risks that increasingly threaten both infrastructure systems and the agri-food economy. Sea-level rise, cyclones, salinity intrusion, riverine flooding, and extreme rainfall continue to disrupt agricultural production and degrade critical transport, water, and energy infrastructure. Recent analysis undertaken through GCA’s Climate Stress Test on Infrastructure shows that flooding alone already inflicts an estimated €12.3 billion in damages on the transport sector under baseline conditions, with losses projected to grow significantly by 2050. These impacts directly undermine food security by reducing connectivity, slowing market access, damaging storage and processing facilities, and weakening value-chain efficiency in climate-exposed regions.
 
To address these intersecting risks, GCA aims to strengthen climate-resilient infrastructure planning and investment. Building on the national pipeline of 35 climate-screened infrastructure projects developed in 2025, in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and leveraging its Global Tools for NBS, GCA now seeks to identify and prepare three to four priority investment projects that integrate Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and reinforce agri-food value chain resilience. This work is being supported by the UK International Development with funds from the UK government. 

GCA is supporting this process through a structured, data-driven prioritization approach that combines climate risk analytics, spatial mapping of agri-food hotspots, multi-criteria analysis, and early investment case development. The first high-level roundtable will convene government agencies, development partners, DFIs, private-sector, and other relevant actors to validate the prioritization process, align financing opportunities, and set the pathway for preparing bankable, NbS-integrated investments that strengthen Bangladesh’s food systems and protect vulnerable communities.

Purpose of the Event

The project is currently in its first phase, which includes a review of the 35 project ideas identified during the Bangladesh Climate Resilient Infrastructure Investment Roadmap, a shortlisting exercise to identify 10-15 projects with strong linkages to NbS and agri-food value chains, and the application of a multi-criteria analysis (MCA) to prioritize 3-4 high-impact projects for investment. 

To build partnerships and strengthen stakeholder ownership of the project, GCA is hosting a series of three roundtable discussions between December 2025 and March 2026. The purpose of this first roundtable discussion is to gather stakeholder input on the shortlisting process and multi-criteria analysis (MCA), and to validate the 3-4 prioritized project ideas. Stakeholder input is especially critical at this stage, as the project ideas must be validated before the team can proceed with building the business case for each prioritized project.

Expected Outcomes

The main expected outcomes are:

• To have presented and gathered feedback on the shortlisting process and resulting list of 10-15 projects. 
• To have discussed and refined the MCA approach. 
• To have agreed on and validated the 3-4 priority project ideas.  
• To strengthen stakeholder awareness and ownership of the priority investment options and initiate early engagement in formulating the financing pathways.