Search

Begin New Search Topic Climate Change Political Geography Bangladesh

11. Transforming the power sector in developing countries: Geopolitics, poverty, and climate change in Bangladesh

Author:
Robert F. Ichford
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Governments across South Asia face many challenges as they seek to improve the lives of the more than 1.8 billion people that live in the region. Increasing geopolitical competition—especially between and among China, Russia, and the United States—is one factor that is affecting progress. This “great power competition,” including over the South China Sea, is intertwined with regional rivalries (e.g., India and Pakistan, India and China, and the United States and Iran) and has important economic, military, technological, and environmental consequences. Energy is a key strategic sector in this competition as China pursues its expansive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure and trade vision, Russia uses arms sales and nuclear energy to expand its regional presence, and the United States confronts Iran and gears up its free and open Indo-Pacific Strategy and Asia EDGE (Enhancing Development and Growth through Energy) initiative. This issue brief considers the transformation of the electricity sector in Bangladesh. It is the fourth country analysis in the Atlantic Council’s “Transforming the Power Sector in Developing Countries” series. This issue brief applies to Bangladesh the analytical framework developed in the first report in the series, which presents general challenges and strategic priorities for developing countries in the context of their implementation of electric power policies and reforms following the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.
Topic:
Security, Climate Change, Energy Policy, Markets, Oil, Governance, Geopolitics, Gas, Renewable Energy, Fossil Fuels, and Transition
Political Geography:
Bangladesh, South Asia, and Asia

12. Money Talks: A Synthesis Report Assessing Humanitarian Funding Flows to Local Actors in Bangladesh and Uganda

Author:
Anita Kattakuzhy and Chloe Parrish
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
International humanitarian agencies and donors have made a series of global commitments to local actors as part of the localization agenda, including to increase their access to greater direct funding by 2020. This briefing paper reviews 2015 national financial data for Bangladesh and Uganda to better understand how to target international investments in localization. It presents key findings from Oxfam-commissioned research on which factors affect local actors’ ability to access international humanitarian funding. It concludes that in order for global commitments to translate into practice, investments should look at changing the terms of the funding relationship, as well as be based on a context-specific, national analysis of the financial environment.
Topic:
Climate Change, Disaster Relief, Environment, Humanitarian Aid, Refugee Crisis, and Displacement
Political Geography:
Uganda, Bangladesh, Africa, and Asia

13. Building Climate-Resilient, Migrant-Friendly Cities and Towns

Author:
Sarder Shafiqul Alam, Saleemul Huq, Faisal Bin Islam, and Hasan Mohammed Asiful Hoque
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD)
Abstract:
Bangladesh has been experiencing a rapid growth in urban population during last four decades. However, this growth follows an imbalanced spatial distribution, mostly directed towards Dhaka city. As of 2011, almost 44% of the country’s urban population lived in Dhaka resulting in excessive pressure on its housing, transportation, infrastructure, and basic services (GED, 2015). This pressure is accumulating every year as a result of rapid population influx where climatic stresses play a major role in driving people towards major cities in search of livelihood opportunities. It is projected that around 13 million people within Bangladesh are likely to be displaced by 2050, eventually migrating to Dhaka and other major cities, where climate migrants are likely to outnumber other internal migrants (World Bank, 2018). It will be difficult for cities like Dhaka to absorb this huge influx of climate migrants. The citizens of Bangladesh should not be encouraged to migrate into major cities. Rather, they should be incentivized to move to other secondary cities in the country. As climate change worsens, and more people are likely to migrate from their rural homes to urban centers, it is imperative that Bangladesh pursues a policy of creating climate resilient, migrant-friendly cities to disperse the massive influx of migrants moving to Dhaka.
Topic:
Climate Change, Migration, Cities, and Resilience
Political Geography:
Bangladesh and South Asia

14. Gibika Final Research Report

Author:
Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson, Kees van der Geest, and David Wrathall
Publication Date:
09-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD)
Abstract:
An overview of research findings from the 2013 to 2018 Gibika project. Understanding how environmental stress and climatic changes influence people’s livelihood resilience and lives in Bangladesh. A climate-resilient and sustainable future for people in vulnerable countries starts with resilient livelihoods. There is an urgent need to turn knowledge around livelihood threats, shocks, trajectories and opportunities into operable solutions. Gibika is a five-year research-to-action project between United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) and Munich Re-Foundation (MRF) that aims to advance the scientific understanding of livelihood resilience in Bangladesh, and to apply conclusions towards community-led solutions that improve the living conditions of vulnerable people. When livelihood systems are not resilient, environmental shocks will have long-term impacts on human wellbeing and development goals. By using the analytical concept of resilience, the project brings researchers, practitioners and the community-members in the study sites together to debate and develop solutions that can improve the living conditions of extremely vulnerable people. Therefore, the project promotes livelihood resilience and sustainable development within Bangladesh and beyond.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Sustainability, Resilience, and Livelihoods
Political Geography:
Bangladesh and South Asia

15. Planning for Adaptation in Bangladesh: Past, Present and Future

Author:
Saleemul Huq and Mizan R. Khan
Publication Date:
08-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD)
Abstract:
The world community already lives in a climate changed world. However, the need to adapt to its increasing impact is extremely urgent for the particularly vulnerable countries, such as the least developed countries (LDCs), small island developing states (SIDS) and Africa. Of all these countries, Bangladesh stands unique in terms of climate impacts on a huge population of 160 million living in a small territory sandwitched between the Himalayas in the North and Bay of Bengal in the South. Obviously, Bangladesh has a huge groundswell of experiential learning from living with climate disasters for ages. This experience has been reinforced during the last decade and a half when Bangladesh started anticipatory adaptation planning, first in the form of developing the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) under the mandate of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Since then Bangladesh has accepted adaptation to climate change impacts as a national priority, with gradual integration of adaptation needs into national development planning. This Policy Brief is a stock-taking of what Bangladesh has done so far and how she can proceed with future adaptation planning.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Natural Disasters, and Adaptation
Political Geography:
Bangladesh and South Asia

16. What does the IPCC say about Bangladesh? – ICCCAD Briefing

Author:
International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD)
Publication Date:
10-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD)
Abstract:
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a scientific body established to provide a scientific view on the current state of knowledge in climate change and its impacts. The IPCC was first established in 1988 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The IPCC is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change, and thousands of scientists and other experts contribute to the reports which are then reviewed by governments. The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) (2014), is the fifth in the series of IPCC assessment reports and provides an update of knowledge on the scientific, technical and socio-economic aspects of climate change. Working Group I covers the Physical Science Basis, Working Group II is on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, and Working Group III is on Mitigation of Climate Change. In this report, we have focused on Working Group II (WG2) of the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) for relevance for Bangladesh and we will now present our findings. The objective of this report is to provide a guide for stakeholders and decision makers in Bangladesh.
Topic:
Climate Change, United Nations, and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Political Geography:
Bangladesh and South Asia

17. Environmental diplomacy: Saving the Sundarbans and restoring the India-Bangladesh relationship

Author:
Shloka Nath
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations
Abstract:
Gateway House’s Shloka Nath examines the causes of disagreements between India and Bangladesh, and makes recommendations to resolve them – which can lead to an intelligent management and protection of the Sunderbans. In January 2010, Jairam Ramesh, then India’s energetic Environment Minister, while on a visit to Kolkata, displayed once again his penchant for the big idea. Together with his counterpart from Bangladesh, he announced both countries were joining hands to protect the Sundarbans from environmental degradation and stated that the proposed Indo-Bangladesh Sundarbans Eco-System Forum, which is currently in the planning stages, will be made functional by the second half of 2011. In October 2010, a draft protocol to be signed by both nations was approved by the Bangladesh cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Using bilateral environmental concerns to foster broader regional cooperation is an innovative idea and the first of its kind for India and Bangladesh. For both countries, this is a unique foreign policy opportunity. In an exclusive interview with Gateway House in September 2010, Ramesh said, “Environmental diplomacy and environmental cooperation can often be triggers for enhancing broader regional cooperation. It helps to build trust, gets your people working with each other, learning from each other, and breaking down barriers. I hope to see more of this going forward.” The timing of the statement could not have been better; if the aspiration of Jairam Ramesh can be realised, not only will the fractious Indo-Bangla relationship be repaired, but the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest spanning a vast territory of over 10,000 sq. km. can also be saved. Sitting on the sensitive border between India and Bangladesh, the Sundarbans is one of the most endangered eco-systems in the world. Approximately 60 percent lies in Bangladesh and 40 percent in India. The problems that surround it have the potential to advance the relationship between these two important South Asian neighbours; given the magnitude of the difficulties, the converse is equally true.
Topic:
Climate Change, Diplomacy, Environment, Regional Cooperation, Territorial Disputes, Water, Refugees, and Maritime
Political Geography:
Bangladesh, South Asia, and India