Climate Change and Disaster Management in Bangladesh

Abstract

Climate change is expected to increase the severity and frequency of natural catastrophes, increase floods, and significantly influence crop yields, infrastructure, displacement, and development prospects, causing human and economic losses. Adapting to projected changes could help lower the risk of both climate change and catastrophes. Both climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) strive to control hydrometeorological risks by reducing community susceptibility, increasing their resilience, as well as minimizing the consequences of climate-related disasters and associated risks following proactive and long-term approaches to disaster management. The promotion of a DRR management system has the potential to significantly enhance adaption to the changing climate and vice versa. As a developing country, it is extremely important for Bangladesh to consider how to tackle climate change and disasters in the long term for human welfare and sustainable development. Bangladesh has separate climate change and disaster management systems, with minimal synergistic approach between the two. Over the time, the country has moved swiftly with its legislative responses to climate change and disaster, but when it comes to DRR and CCA integration, things are still in the early stages with a slew of obstacles to overcome. This chapter presents Bangladesh’s current legal and policy responses to climate change and disaster management, emphasizing existing DRR and CCA strategies and the challenges that remain as well as solutions that can be used to address them.