World Bank group president Jim Yong Kim made the announcement on Tuesday at the end of a two-day trip to the Asian country.

Kim toured schools that double as cyclone shelters in major storms and visited rural communities that are using solar systems to generate their own electricity.

He said: “Bangladesh is among the countries most at risk from the impacts of climate change. We must confront climate change now as it hits the poor the hardest.”

The country had been a “forerunner in adaptation and stronger disaster-coping mechanisms and these have reduced the impact of recent storms, cyclones and floods.”

Kim added that the “the World Bank plans to help Bangladesh become even more resilient to climate change.”

With the participation of communities, the country has improved defensive measures, such as early warning systems, cyclone shelters, evacuation plans, coastal embankments, reforestation schemes and increased awareness and communication.

Kim hailed the success of these measures, which he said had resulted in a “dramatic decline in deaths”.

The $2bn pledge in new money is in addition to another $1bn pledged by Kim on Monday to end childhood stunting in Bangladesh.

Both amounts are contingent on the successful replenishment of the International Development Association, the World Bank’s fund for the world’s poorest countries. This is due to be agreed in December this year.