Climate Change in

Bangladesh:
Challenges and Responses
Niaz Ahmed Khan
Ph.D. (Wales), Post Doc. (Oxford)

Professor and (former) Chair, Department of

Development Studies, University of Dhaka;
(former) Country Representative-Bangladesh, IUCN
-International Union for Conservation of Nature;
(former) Senior Program Coordinator-CHT, UNDPBangladesh.

Outline of the Discussion: Three

Questions
Climate Change: What is actually
happening in the Field and How serious is
the matter?
Part 1: The Bangladesh perspective: major
manifestations, symptoms, and challenges

What are we doing about it?

Part 2: The Bangladesh response:
(i) At the level of policies and national instruments
(ii) At field programme level

How can we do things better?

Part 3: Some critical thoughts and clues on

The Basics: Clarifying the Concepts

Climate Change
Any change in climate over time whether due to natural
variability or as a result of human interventions (IPCC)
Adaptive capacity
The ability of a system [human or natural] to adjust to
climate change (including climate variability and extremes)
to moderate potential damages, to take advantage of
opportunities, or to cope with the consequences
Resilience
The ability of a system [human or natural] to resist, absorb
and recover from the effects of hazards in a timely and
efficient manner, preserving or restoring its essential basic
structures, functions and identity

Climate Change impacts

everywhere!
Physical resources: Shelter and infrastructure will be

damaged or destroyed by an increased frequency of flooding,

storms and climate-related disasters.
Human resources: Malnutrition and the incidents of
infectious diseases are predicted to rise with changing
weather patterns.
Social resources: Reduced livelihood security and
prolonged or more frequent droughts and floods will lead to
the displacement of communities
Natural resources: Ecosystems are directly threatened by
climate change. Change to the natural environment
undermines the poor who depend on local ecosystems for a
variety of goods and services, and rely on the productivity of
their environment to support agriculture. Changes in local
ecosystems may require changes to agricultural systems and
practices.

Part 1
The Bangladesh Perspective:
Major Manifestations and
Challenges of CC and related
Disasters

Bangladesh- The Innocent Victim

if global warming cannot be limited within a 1.5 degrees
Celsius increase, vulnerable countries like Bangladesh may be
submerged partially displacing millions of people (RK Pachauri,
former Chair of IPCC)

Bangladesh emits only less than 1/5th of 1

% of world total, but the most vulnerable to
tropical cyclones, 6th most vulnerable to
flood in the world
During 1984 to 2007, the physical damage
from 6 floods worth around US$ 15.178
billion including thousands of deaths
By 2050, rice production could decline by
8% and wheat by 32% (1990)

(Confirmed) Observed Changes in Bangladesh

Climate change is likely to
bring particularly rapid
temperature increases in
Bangladesh- faster than
the average global rate of
warming
Extreme weather events
such as heat waves and
high rainfall are likely to
become more frequent.
Tropical cyclone intensity
is expected to rise by 1020%

The rise of average

temperatures in
Bangladesh is estimated
to have increased by
0.1250C/year from 1970
to 2001; this rate is
comparable to the
average rise in the
temperature of the earth.

Rates of precipitation
have risen in the southwest, ranging from 9.45
to 20.4 mm per year.

Sea level rose 4 mm per

year from 1977 to 1998, 3
times more than the

Exposure to
Cyclones

Cyclone Sidr struck

Bangladesh 15th
November 2007. The
South Western part of the
country was hit by winds
of up to 240kph in what
has been described as the
worst cyclone to hit
Bangladesh in years.
Estimates of the death toll
stood at over 3500.
Cyclone Aila hit
Bangladesh
On 27 May 2009.
330 people killed,
and at least 8,208
more went missing,
while about 1million
people rendered
homeless.

SLR and
Salinity
Intrusion

Sea level has raised

and roads went
under water at
Koyra, Khulna

Once a habitation
(locality) - now
submerged by sea
water at Koyra,
Khulna

Productive agriculture
land has been affected
by saline water
intrusion, and becoming
barren

Environmentallydestructive shrimp
culture has become
the key means of
livelihood in the
salinity affected land

Vulnerabilit
y to
Flooding

Flood frequency and magnitude have

drastically increased

Types and Sectoral Vulnerabilities

(Source: NAPA)

Physical Vulnerability Context

Extreme
Tempera
ture

Sea Level Rise

Coastal
Inundation

Salinity
Intrusion

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Drought

Flood

Cyclone
and
Storm
Surges

Erosion

Sectoral
Vulnerability
Context

River
Flood

Flash
Flood

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++

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Crop Agriculture

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Fisheries

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Livestock

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Industries

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Biodiversity

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Health

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Infrastructure

Human
Settlement
Energy