Bangladesh's NDC 3.0 (2025)

Food System Overview

Food production is vital to Bangladesh’s economy. In the country, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries account for 38% of national employment and 12% of the country’s GDP. In 2022, 45.4% of the total employed population worked in agriculture. The country’s rice sector contributes one-half of the country’s agricultural GDP while providing about two-third of total calorie supply of an average person in the country. Rice sector contributes one-half of the agricultural GDP and one-sixth of the national income in Bangladesh. Fisheries are also an important source of food in Bangladesh. Additionally, the country faces chronic food insecurity and malnutrition; between 2017 and 2019, severe food insecurity was present within 10% of the country’s population.

NDC Development

Bangladesh’s NDC 3.0 was developed by a consortium of national expert including in agriculture and land use commissioned by the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC). Multiple ministries informed the development of concrete targets and measures in the updated NDC. The development process involved a consultation process that included representatives of various governmental bodies, the private sector, and civil society, though participation from local communities, women, farmers, marginalized groups, and Indigenous Peoples was limited or absent

Food System Measures

Bangladesh’s NDC includes multiple measures for agriculture to improve infrastructure and reduce emissions. The NDC aims for reduction of 12.71 MtCO₂eq emission by 2035 through mitigation actions encompassing agriculture, livestock, and forestry sub-sectors, each contributing significantly to the country's climate goals. Bangladesh will annually track a concise set of mitigation indicators, including hectares under climate-smart agriculture. For livestock, the focus is on feed management to improve animal diets and manure management through biogas, vermicompost, and biochar solutions. The NDC emphasizes that climate actions will be designed to promote resilient food systems, safeguard dietary diversity, and strengthen nutritional outcomes.

Actions for forestry and ecosystems includes encouraging homestead forestry and agroforestry to contribute to both dietary diversity and emission reduction. Meeting NDC 3.0 mitigation targets will require scaling up climate-smart agriculture, sustainable aquaculture, low-emission livestock systems, and strengthened forest governance aligned with REDD+ and Article 6 mechanisms to attract international finance.

NDC Implementation

To achieve NDC 3.0 mitigation targets, Bangladesh needs USD 116.18 billion in total of which USD 25.95 billion is for unconditional targets and USD 90.23 billion is from international climate finance support for meeting the conditional targets. Full achievement of NDC 3.0 ambition depends on scaled-up international finance, technology transfer, and capacity building to unlock higher ambition and secure a sustainable future for present and future generations. Bangladesh will mobilize resources through bilateral and multilateral partners, green bonds, concessional finance, result-based climate finance, public-private partnerships, and international carbon markets. Investment in skills development, governance, and innovation will enable a transparent and accountable MRV system to track mitigation, adaptation, and finance. Concurrently, NDC 3.0 underlines the need to strengthen local governments, social organizations and vulnerable groups (e.g., women and girls, young people, indigenous peoples and people with disabilities). Enabling measures for just transition include ensuring inclusive consultation processes that involve different industries, local communities, marginalized groups, the informal sector, the SME sector, and vulnerable workers in policy design and implementation. Efforts to engage children and youth in a meaningful way led to a dedicated consultation with expert panels, youth activists, children, youth representatives, and young people across Bangladesh, including youth demonstration plots, agri-clubs, and peer learning.

Sources

World Bank, “Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Value Added (% of GDP): Bangladesh” (n.d.). Retrieved from: https://data.worldbank.org/country/ bangladesh.

Global Alliance for the Future of Food. Untapped opportunities for climate action: an assessment of food systems in Nationally Determined Contributions. n.p.: Global Alliance for the Future of Food, 2022.

Bangladesh Rice Knowledge Bank, “Rice in Bangladesh” (n.d.). Retrieved from: http://www.knowledgebank-brri.org/riceinban.php.

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, “45 Years Agriculture Statistics of Major Crops” (2018). Retrieved from: http://bbs.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/ files/files/bbs.portal.gov.bd/page/16d38ef2_2163_4252_a28b_e65f60dab8a9/45%20years%20Major%20Crops.pdf.

FAOSTAT, “Bangladesh” (n.d.). Retrieved from: http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#country/16.