climte

1. An Assignment on
‘Climate Change and Bangladesh’
Course Title: Climate Change and Development
Course Code: DS 3205
SUBMITTED TO:
Md. Ashikuzzaman
Assistant Professor
Development Studies Discipline
Khulna University
Khulna- 9208
SUBMITTED BY:
Md. Ayatullah Khan
Student ID: 152119
3rd
Year; 2nd
Term
Development Studies Discipline
Khulna University
Khulna- 9208
Date of Submission: April 10, 2018

2. Climate change is now one of the biggest problems across the globe as its impacts on human
being and the environment are very terrible and prolonged. Almost all countries of the world
are directly or indirectly affected by the adverse effects of climate change. Bangladesh is
recognized worldwide as one of the country’s most vulnerable to the impacts of global
warming and climate change. According to researches, the country is at the high risk of
natural disasters due to its geographical location, low-lying landscape, density of population,
alternation in the pattern of seasons, poor infrastructures and so on. Beside these, socio-
economic condition of the country is very vulnerable than other countries in the world. The
country has a history of extreme climatic events claiming millions of lives and destroying
past development gains. Impact of Climate Change in Bangladesh is an extremely crucial
issue and Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable nations to the impacts of Global Climate
Change in the coming decades.
Climate Change and how it occurs: Before discussing about the climate change, it is
necessary to know about climate. Climate is generally called the average state of the weather
for 30 to 40 years. From the early age of the formation of the earth, the condition of climate
was not like what is existed now but far different. Therefore, climate is changing over
decades. Climate is not changed overnight. Rather it takes around 30 to 40 years. Now, a
question may arise how one can understand that climate is changing. The answer of the
question can be found from the changes of the indicators of climate change. Although there
are a number of indicators of climate change, some of these are mentioned here. For example,
greenhouse gas emissions, temperature, drought, flood, heat and level of oceans, snowfall, ice
melting, glaciers, heat and cooling related diseases. If these indicators are changed through 30
to 40 years, it can be said that climate has been changed.
Climate is getting changed due to many reasons. They can be principally classified into two
categories. Firstly, natural causes- the causes are created by the effects of nature including
biotic processes and variations in solar radiation received by Earth plate tectonics, and
volcanic eruptions. Secondly, manmade causes- the causes are made by human being. As for
example, humans are increasingly influencing the climate change by burning fossil fuels like,
coal, diesel, petrol, kerosene, gases; by growing poultry and livestock and by cutting down
trees and rain forests which cause greenhouse effect. As a result, the level of global
temperature is growing very high day by day.
Climate Change in Bangladesh: Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable to natural
disasters due to the frequency of extreme climate events and its high population density.
Climate change poses significant risks for Bangladesh. The impacts of higher temperatures,
more variable precipitation, more extreme weather events and sea level rise are already felt in
Bangladesh and will continue to intensify. The impacts result not only from gradual changes
in temperature and sea level but also in particular, from increased climate variability and
extreme events including more intense floods, droughts, and storms. These changes are
already having major impacts on the economic performance of Bangladesh and on the lives
and livelihoods of millions of poor people.
According to Global Climate Risk Index (GCRI) 2017 which is prepared by German watch,
Bangladesh is the sixth disaster-prone country in the world. The report has also stated that out
of one lac inhabitants 0.48 people die due to the adverse effects of climate change.
Bangladesh has already faced 185 incidents related to climate change. For this reason, the

3. country has to face the losses of per unit GDP by 0.732 percent. From the mentioned
scenario, it is observed that the effects of climate change are posing a serious problem for the
country.
Impacts of Climate Change in Bangladesh: The impacts of global warming and climate
change are worldwide. For Bangladesh they are most critical as large part of the population is
chronically exposed and vulnerable to a range of natural hazards. Rapid global warming has
caused fundamental changes to our climate. No country and people know this better than
Bangladesh, where millions of people are already suffering. The regular and severe natural
hazards already batter the country like tropical cyclones, river erosion, flood, landslides and
drought to increase in intensity and frequency as a result of climate change.
The following impacts of climate changes have already been observed in Bangladesh:
Summers are becoming hotter, monsoon irregular, untimely rainfall, heavy rainfall over short
period causing water logging and landslides, very little rainfall in dry period, increased river
flow etc. Bangladesh experiences different types of Natural Disasters almost every year
because of the Global Warming as well as Climate Change impacts, these are:
 Floods / Flash Floods: Almost 80% of the total area of the country is prone to
flooding.
 Cyclones and Storm Surges: South and South-eastern Parts of the country were hit
by Tropical Cyclones during the last few years.
 Salinity Intrusion: Almost the whole Coastal Belt along the Bay of Bengal is
experiencing Salinity problem.
 Extreme Temperature and Drought: North and North-western regions of the
country are suffering because of the Extreme Temperature problem.
Beside these, Bangladesh has also faced a number of problems in different sectors due to
climate change. They include-
 The economy of Bangladesh is based on Agriculture mainly. But the impacts of
Climate Change such as - Extreme Temperature, Drought, and Salinity Intrusion etc.
are also responsible for the declining crop yields in Bangladesh.
 The fisheries sector has also experienced an adverse effect because of the impacts of
Climate Change. There are around 260 species of fish in the country and almost all
the varieties are sensitive to specific salt and freshwater conditions.
 In a high density country like Bangladesh, the effects of Climate Change on the
Surface and Ground water resources will be very severe and alarming. Changes to
water resources and hydrology will have a significant impact on the country’s
economy, where people mostly depend on the Surface water for Irrigation, Fishery,
Industrial production, Navigation and similar other activities.
 Cities and Towns situated along the Coastal belt in Bangladesh are at the front line of
climate change related disaster impacts.
Climate Change Mitigation Policies of Bangladesh: To stop or to protect the country from
the adverse effects of climate change, some policies can be taken such as green the
community, be energy efficient, choose renewable power, trim wastage, let polluters pay etc.
Apart from, by deeply digging canals and rivers, by planting trees, by reducing fuel use, the

4. degree of the negative impact of climate change can be reduced. Bangladesh has already
taken action to face the climate challenge by adopting various policies to address climate
change and investing heavily in adaption measures. Along with its National Adaptation
Program of Action (NAPA), Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan
(BCCSAP) is the important policy document that provides strategic direction for work on
climate change related issues.
 National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPA): In 2005, Bangladesh has the
first Least Developed Country to prepare the National Adaptation Program of Action
(NAPA) and have eventually revised in 2009 which have documented the urgently
needed adaptation actions for Bangladesh to identify priority activities. The NAPA is
the beginning of a long journey to address adverse impacts of climate stimuli
including variability and extreme events and to promote sustainable development of
the country. NAPA respond to their urgent and immediate needs to adapt to climate
change those for which further delay would increase vulnerability and/or costs at a
later stage. The strategic goals and objectives of future coping mechanisms are to
reduce adverse effects of climate change including variability and extreme events and
promote sustainable development. Future coping strategies and mechanisms are
suggested based on existing process and practices keeping main essence of adaptation
science which is a process to adjust with adverse situation of climate change.
 Bangladesh Climate Change Strategies and Action Plan: In 2009, Bangladesh
Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP) have been developed. The
government of Bangladesh’s Vision is to eradicate poverty and achieve economic and
social well-being for all the people. This will be achieved through a pro-poor climate
management strategy, which prioritizes adaptation and disaster risk reduction, and
also addresses low carbon development, mitigation, technology transfer and the
mobilization and international provision of adequate finance. The Bangladesh Climate
Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP) are to be treated as a “living document”
to address the climate change impact in Bangladesh. The strategy encompasses
actions under 6 broad categories with emphasis on sustainable development, poverty
reduction and increased well-being of all vulnerable groups with a special focus on
gender sensitivity. It sets out 44 programs to be taken by Bangladesh over the short,
medium and long term. BCCSAP sets some implicit priorities including– food
security, social protection and health; comprehensive disaster management;
infrastructure; research and knowledge management; mitigation and low carbon
development; and capacity building and institutional strengthening.
 In 2014, Bangladesh has also prepared the Climate Fiscal Framework which provides
guidelines for planning and managing climate change related finance efficiently.
 Bangladesh has also developed the Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF) with its own
resources to tackle the adverse effects of climate change.
 In July 2017, National Environmental Council considering climate change as a top
priority issue and decision has been taken to redesign the Ministry of Environment
and Forests as the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

5. Development and Climate Change in Bangladesh: Focus on Coastal Flooding and the
Sundarbans: Almost one-fourth of the total population of the country live in the coastal
areas of Bangladesh where majority of the population are somehow affected (directly or
indirectly) by Coastal Floods. With the rise of Sea-level up to one meter only, Bangladesh
could lose up to 15% of its land area under the Sea water and around 30 million people living
in the coastal areas of Bangladesh could become Refugees because of Climate Change
impacts.
Bangladesh has a wide diversity of Ecosystems including Mangrove forests at the extreme
south of the country. The “Sundarban” a World Heritage, is the largest Mangrove Forest in
the world, comprising 57700 hectares of land area along the Bay of Bengal. A total of 425
species have been identified there where the most significant is the famous Royal Bengal
Tiger. Therefore, Development and Climate Change in Bangladesh impacts will have
negative effects on the Ecosystem of the Forest recourses in Bangladesh while the Sundarban
is likely to suffer the most. The effects of climate change on the Sundarbans would be
considerably more critical during the dry season that extends from November to April.
To conclude, so far Bangladesh has done very well in the climate change field. All along the
country has shown her seriousness about climate change preparedness, producing the
National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA) and a strategy paper named Bangladesh
Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP).

6. References:
Pender, J.S. 2008. What Is Climate Change? And How It Will Effect Bangladesh. Briefing
Paper. (Final Draft). Dhaka, Bangladesh : Church of Bangladesh Social Development
Programme.
Huq, S. (2001). Climate Change and Bangladesh. Retrieved Nov 23, 2001 from
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/294/5547/1617
Karim, A.K.M. R. (2012). Climate Change & its Impacts on Bangladesh. Retrieved Sep 29,
2012 from https://www.ncdo.nl/artikel/climate-change-its-impacts-bangladesh
World Bank. (2009). Bangladesh - Policy Note on Climate Change. Retrieved from
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/12354
Islam A., Shaw R., & Mallick F. (2013). Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action
Plans. Springer, Tokyo.