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Bangladesh
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Summary:
Bangladesh remains one of the world’s poorest and most densely populated countries despite its considerable development gains in the past several decades, including in the areas of gender parity, education, and infant and maternal health (MEF, 2009). Low economic strength, inadequate infrastructure, low level of social development, lack of institutional capacity, and a higher dependency on the natural resource base makes Bangladesh particularly vulnerable to climate stimuli (including both variability as well as extreme events). Recognizing these vulnerabilities, Bangladesh has developed many adaptation measures to address adverse effects of climate change based on existing coping mechanisms and practices.
Bangladesh, except for the hilly regions in the northeast and southeast and terrace land in northwest and central zones, is one of the largest deltas in the world, formed by the dense network of the distributaries of the mighty rivers namely the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna. The country is located between 20°34’ to 26°38’ north latitude and 88°01’ to 92°42’ east longitude. The total land area is 147,570 sq. km. and consists mostly of low and flat land. A network of more than 230 major rivers with their tributaries and distributaries crisscross the country. It has a population of about 131 million (BBS, 2002) with very low per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$ 351 per annum (UNDP, 2004). Of this, just about a quarter was in the urban areas including the metropolitan cities . The country’s economy is primarily agricultural, and the majority of the population depends on agriculture for their livelihoods(USDS, 2010). The country’s main crops are rice and jute, along with maize, vegetables and tea.
Population of the country has been growing fast in the sixties and the seventies. The inter-census growth rates had been rising and then falling over the last four decades or so. The falling population growth rate had been possible due to a sharp decline in the total fertility rate which had fallen from 6.3 per woman of reproductive age (15-49) in 1975 to 3.0 by 2004 (NIPORT and Mitra and Associate: 2005). For the future under the assumed rates for this report, the expected population for the year 2030 is 186 million, 61 million in the urban and the rest 125 million in the rural areas. Most people, live in the rural areas. On the other hand, urbanization is growing fast in the country. Between 1961 and 1974, the rate of growth in urban population had been 6.7 % per annum. Between 1974 and 1981 it shot up further to 10.7 % per annum. Since then the rate has fallen, but between 1991 and 2001 it was 3.15 % which is just double the rate of overall population growth. The following section is found in the Meister Consultants Group study: *Floating Houses and Mosquito Nets: Emerging Climate Change Adaptation Strategies Around the World*
Strategy and Actors
Although Bangladesh is among the least developed countries in the world, the country has developed good adaptation approaches, especially in the field of disaster management. Bangladesh has always had to fight floods and other natural disasters; therefore, despite limited resources it has developed a comprehensive system in order to handle these threats. However, unlike countries such as the Netherlands, Bangladesh cannot protect the whole population from the consequences of climate change. The goal is rather to minimize the impacts on people and the economy. The most important natural disaster program is the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP), initiated by the government in 2003. CDMP is a comprehensive program that aims to limit the long-term risks and to build operative capacities in the field of disaster control. It also deals with many of the main adaptation challenges. The program is supported both by UNDP and by the British development organization Department for International Development (DFID). The CDMP also includes central guidelines and strategies for the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management (MoFDM), established in 2003. In addition to the steering committee, which is the central decision-making body, there is the Program, Policy and Partnership Development Unit (PPPDU), tasked with coordinating the different actors involved, as well as with mainstreaming disaster control and development policy. The CDMP is complemented by UNDP’s Participatory Disaster Management Programme (PDMP), which also serves other Asian countries.
In Bangladesh, the program targets the most urgent measures with a short-term implementation horizon. It is an action- and project-based addition to CDMP’s strategy, focusing on simple preventive measures and on handling the consequences of natural disasters. Action plans are developed in cooperation with the most important stakeholders in the region. Other measures include the training of catastrophe management staff, the implementation of local risk reduction concepts, and the establishment of early warning systems. In 2005, Bangladesh also developed a National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) within the framework of the UNFCCC. The preparation process was handled by a steering committee of representatives of the most important ministries. The Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) leads the project. During the development of the plan, strategy workshops with affected stakeholders were organized, and NGOs and academics were involved in the process. The plan identifies the most important vulnerabilities, and recommends a comprehensive catalog of prioritized measures. The 15 most important measures are accompanied by a specific project.
Source: Dr. Hans-Peter Meister, I. K., Martina Richwein, Wilson Rickerson, Chad Laurent. Additional contributors: Jeff Snell, Elisa Burchert, Florian Lux. (2009). *Floating Houses and Mosquito Nets: Emerging Climate Change Adaptation Strategies Around the World.* Boston: Meister Consultants Group. p. 67-69._ For more detailed information and references refer to [Floating Houses - Full Report](http://files.mc-group.com/clst/Study%20Climate%20Change%20Adaption.pdf).
A. Adaptation Needs and Priorities
Bangladesh’s current climate is monsoonal and subtropical, and the country experiences seasonal rainfall, warm temperatures and high humidity. Bangladesh’s marshy coast is located at the tip of the northern Indian Ocean, an area that is susceptible to strong cyclonic storms and tidal waves; nearly annually the country experiences floods, cyclones, tornadoes and tidal bores, caused in part by the country’s unique geography (CIF, 2010). With an average elevation of four to five meters above sea level, approximately one-third of the country is prone to tidal inundation, and during monsoons up to 70 per cent of the country becomes flooded (CIF, 2010).
Recent data indicates that Bangladesh’s temperature has increased during the monsoon season, which lasts from June through to August (MEF, 2005). The country is experiencing the impacts of a warmer climate; summers are growing hotter, monsoon seasons are becoming more irregular, and heavy rainfall is occurring over short periods (CIF, 2010). The country’s National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) indicates there is also evidence of greater saline intrusion in coastal zones.
Bangladesh is generally recognized as the country most at risk due to climate change, particularly to the effects of sea-level rise (CIF, 2010; MEF, 2010). The country is likely to experience more frequent and severe tropical cyclones, heavier and more erratic rainfall, higher river flows, erosion of river banks, melting of Himalayan glaciers, and sea level rise (MEF, 2009). By 2050, 70 million people could be affected annually by floods, 8 million by droughts, and up to 8 per cent of low-lying lands may be under water due to rising sea levels. Climate projections using older and newer versions of General Circulation Models have revealed that the water related impacts of climate change in Bangladesh are likely to be the most severe challenges the country faces (MEF, 2005). These impacts include the possibility of drought during winter—the dry season—and coastal and riverine flooding. A number of studies indicate the coastal zone impacts will be severe, given the combined effects of sea level rise, subsidence, changes in upstream river discharge and erosion of coastal embankments (MEF, 2005). Moreover, most of the coastal population will face increasingly intense cyclones and tidal surges along with increasing salinity in water and soil.
In physical and economic terms, climate change is expected to severely impact Bangladesh’s: agricultural crops, fisheries and livestock (food security); water resources (in- and off-stream availability, navigation); health (malnutrition, frequent outbreak of vector borne diseases); infrastructure (coastal and inland embankments, road and drainage systems); and forests (especially the Sundarbans) and biodiversity (MEF, 2005). Moreover, urban areas—which are extremely densely populated and largely unplanned—are likely to face incidences of severe water logging due to poor drainage conditions and possible leakage through or breach of defensive levees.
The prospect of large scale relocation of people from coastal districts (due to cyclones, inundation and increased salinity) to other parts of Bangladesh and abroad is considered by some as a serious security concern. There are 19 coastal districts in Bangladesh with a population of close to 40 million. Should adaptation measures in the coastal belt fail, around 10 to 15 per cent of this population may become displaced.
The Bangladesh Climate Change Action Plan (BCCAP), updated in 2009, provides a review of the country’s adaptation needs by priority area, as summarized below:
Food security, social protection and health. Priority actions include:
- Increase resilience of most vulnerable groups through community-level adaptation, diversification of livelihoods, improved access to services and social protection schemes (e.g. insurance);Develop climate resilient cropping systems (including agricultural research), as well as fisheries and livestock systems to ensure local and national food security;
- Implement surveillance systems for existing and new disease risks and to ensure health systems are poised to meet future demands; and
- Implement drinking water and sanitation programs in areas at risk from climate change, including coastal zones and other flood- and drought-prone areas.
Comprehensive disaster management. Priority actions include:
- Improve the government’s and civil society’s ability to manage natural disasters and ensure that effective policies, laws, and regulations are in place;
- Enhance community-based adaptation programs and ensure they are in place in disaster prone parts of the country; and
- Enhance cyclone, storm surge, and flood early-warning systems.
- Infrastructure Repair existing infrastructure – including coastal embankments, river embankments, and drainage systems – to ensure effective operation and maintenance systems;
- Plan, design and construct needed new infrastructure, including cyclone shelters, coastal and river embankments, water management systems, urban drainage systems, etc.; and
- Undertake strategic planning of future infrastructure needs, and take into account (a) patterns of urbanization and socioeconomic development; and (b) the changing hydrology of the country.
Research and knowledge management. Actions include:
- Improve climate change modeling scenarios for Bangladesh by applying methodologies at the regional and national levels;
- Model the likely hydrological impacts of climate change in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna system in order to assess future system discharges and river levels to feed into flood protection embankment measures;
- Monitor and research the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and biodiversity;
- Analyze the impacts of climate change on Bangladesh’s macro-economy as well as key sectors;
- Research the linkages between climate change, poverty, health, and vulnerability in order to ascertain how the resilience of the most vulnerable households may be improved; and
- Create a Centre for Research and Knowledge Management on Climate Change to ensure that Bangladesh has access to the most current ideas and technologies available globally.
Capacity building and institutional strengthening
- Revise all government policies to ensure they consider climate change and its impacts;
- Mainstream climate change considerations in national, sectoral, and spatial development planning;
- Build the capacity of key government ministries and agencies to move forward on climate change adaptation;
- Improve the capacity of the government to undertake international and regional negotiations on climate change;
- Build the capacity of government, civil society, and the private sector on carbon financing; and
- Build the capacity for education and training of environmental refugees to ease migration to other countries and integration into new societies.
B. National Level Policies and Strategic Documents
Awareness of the potential effects of climate change in Bangladesh occurred comparatively earlier than many other LDCs, with knowledge of impacts existing in the academic community as early as the mid-1980s (Ayers, 2008). Throughout the 1990s, a number of prominent studies raised awareness of the impacts of climate change in the country, including those by the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies in 1994,Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad in 1994, and the Bangladesh Climate Change Country Studies Program in 1997 (Anwar, 1999), as well as a study published by the World Bank in 2000 entitled “Bangladesh: Climate Change and Sustainable Development.” While the country has a long history of research on the effects of climate change, as well as a number of early climate change adaptation projects, studies note a lag between research and policy initiatives, which were not implemented until the 2000s (Ayers, 2008; Adaptation Knowledge Platform, 2010).
However, given the country’s long history of dealing with climate related natural disasters, the Government of Bangladesh has invested over US$10 billion over the past 30 years to make the country more resilient to extreme climate events. This process has included shifting from a response based approach to one characterized by emergency preparedness and risk mitigation (CIF, 2010). Bangladesh has established a Participatory Disaster Management Program that focuses on disaster management and prevention as well as adaptation to climate change. In addition, in 2003, the government established a Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme with donor support, aiming to refocus the government’s efforts towards disaster preparedness and risk reduction (EP, 2007).
The key policy framework for climate change action in Bangladesh is the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP) completed in 2009, which supersedes its NAPA and various previous positions papers. All on-going and planned climate change adaptation efforts in Bangladesh are essentially about supporting the BCCSAP. It was estimated that US$5 billion would be required in the first five years to implement this Action Plan. Bangladesh, like most other least developed countries affected by climate change, will require external financial support to implement its planned actions under the BCCSAP without sacrificing other development priorities.
The BCCSAP identifies six pillars under which climate change mitigation and adaptation will take place: (i) food security, social protection and health; (ii) comprehensive disaster management; (iii) infrastructure; (iv) research and knowledge management; (v) mitigation and low carbon development; and, (vi) capacity building and institutional strengthening. Based on review of earlier national assessments, stakeholder consultations and expert opinions, a set of 44 priority actions to be undertaken in the next 10 years have been identified under these six pillars. Of these 44 priority actions, 34 are to support adaptation to climate change (see Table 1). As the BCCSAP is a “living document,” it will be reviewed and periodically updated by a review committee appointed by the Government of Bangladesh (GOB). As such, new priority actions may be added and present ones amended in future versions of this document. As most of Bangladesh’s sectoral development policies and plans were drafted before the BCCSAP was prepared, climate change has yet to be integrated formally into them. For example, the National Water Management Plan of 2004 recognizes climate change as a potential threat, but it also identifies climate change as a knowledge gap area and calls for quantifying the risk associated with it. This need has been recognized as a priority in the Action Plan of the BCCSAP.
The GOB has designated the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MEF) as the “focal ministry” for providing coordination and the technical lead on all climate change related matters. MEF led the drafting of Bangladesh’s Initial National Communication, NAPA, various position papers and the BCCSAP. In 2010, MEF established a new department—the Department of Climate Change—which will eventually take up the responsibility for coordinating climate change adaptation efforts in Bangladesh at the operational level.
C. Current Adaptation Action
There are a number of significant on-going and planned climate change interventions in Bangladesh that essentially are large-scale, national level programs. Each presently supports or would support many subsidiary projects. Many community level pilot projects (too numerous to be documented separately) are supported through these national programs. These programs are funded by the government and/or bilateral and multilateral development partners, including Australia, Denmark, European Union, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States, as well as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Global Environment Facility (GEF), and World Bank. Ongoing projects are primarily focused on risk reduction, policy formulation and integration, and water, with fewer activities focused on agriculture, forestry, coastal zones, urban areas, and infrastructure. Table 3 lists the major adaptation projects in Bangladesh.
In addition, there are a few small-scale or region-specific projects supported by international NGOs and implemented by local partners. Many of these projects are primarily focused on strengthening the livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable, with elements of disaster risk reduction and adaptation to climate change added in.
It should also be noted that the World Bank, ADB and a number of bilateral donors have large scale infrastructure projects—particularly in the southern and coastal districts of Bangladesh (e.g., on integrated water resources planning and management)—that will help in adapting to increased climatic variability and climate change. However, these projects were conceived solely as infrastructure development or rehabilitation projects and therefore are not included in this review. For example, relevant agencies of the GOB, with oversight from the World Bank, are undertaking the Emergency 2007 Cyclone Recovery and Reconstruction Project. The focus of this US$105-million, five year (2008-2013) project is restoration and recovery from the damage to livelihoods and infrastructure caused by Cyclone Sidr and to build long-term disaster preparedness. It has significant components focused on disaster risk reduction, water
supply and sanitation and strengthening of local institutions and livelihoods that will contribute to the improving the adaptive capacity of the target communities.
D. Proposed Adaptation Action
Two main policy documents summarize proposed adaptation actions in Bangladesh—the NAPA and the BCCSAP. The most recent of these, the BCCSAP, lists proposed adaptation actions by the following categories: food security, social protection and health; comprehensive disaster management; infrastructure; research and knowledge management; and capacity building and institutional strengthening. Bangladesh’s NAPA lists a number of priority adaptation activities, many of which are being addressed through ongoing adaptation projects. As well, it is engaged in the development of some regional projects that have not yet received funding.
Publication
Islam, Faisal; Hove, Hilary; Parry, Jo-Ellen. (2011) “Review of Current and Planned Adaptation Action: South Asia.” Adaptation Patnership/International Institute for Sustainable Development, pp.50-74.
Additional References
Adaptation Knowledge Platform (2010). Summary: Scoping Assessment on Climate Change Adaptation in Bangladesh. Retrieved from
Anwar, Ali (1999). Climate change impacts and adaptation assessment in Bangladesh. Climate Research. Vol 12: 109-116. Retrieved from
Ayers, Jessica M. and Saleemul Huq (2008). The Value of Linking Mitigation and Adaptation: A case study of Bangladesh. Environmental
Management. Retrieved from http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G02370.pdf
Climate Investment Funds (CIF] (2010). Strategic Program for Climate Resilience in Bangladesh. Retrieved from http://www.climateinvestmentfunds.org/cif/sites/climateinvestmentfunds.org/files/PPCR%205%20SPCR%20Bangladesh%20nov201
European Parliament (EP] (2007). Climate Change Impacts and Responses in Bangladesh. Retrieved from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/committees/studies/download.do?file=19195
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MEF] (2009). Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2009. Retrieved from
Ministry of Environment and Forests (2005]. National Adaptation Programme of Action. Retrieved from http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/napa/ban01.pdf
United States Department of State (USDS] (2010). Background Note: Bangladesh. Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3452.htm
