Environment and Climate Change
Dr. Mihir Kanti Mazumder
Secretary
Ministry Environment and Forests
Environmental Degradation
• Environmental degradation is a serious concern.
• These include: degradation of land, wetland and
water bodies, forests, biodiversity loss, arsenic
contamination in ground water, surface water
pollution, air pollution, solid waste disposal
problems in cities and towns, salinity intrusion in
coastal zone and many localised ones.
• These such as biodiversity loss some time
aggravate climate change impacts such as food
insecurity – need therefore to be managed in a
holistic and integrated manner
Climate change impacts
• Cyclone/storm surge: increased frequency, intensity,
increasing salinity
• Flood: increased frequency, magnitudes
• Droughts: Spreading over time and space
• Erratic rainfall: Intensive rain in short time
• Temperature: extremes increasing
• Riverbank and coastal erosion: increasing
• Water logging and permanent inundation due to SLR
Drought
Cyclone
Storm surge, salinity
Hazards Bangladesh faces
Flood
Water logging
Bank
Bank erosion
Erosion
Drought, Floods,
Cyclones likely
to exacerbate in
future due to
climate changeCountry still
reeling from
devastation due
to Cyclone Aila.
Disaster risk
reduction
strategy need
strengthening.
Climate Change Risks
• Extreme events- increased hazards with potential
to increased disasters
– More/intense/frequent
floods/droughts/cyclones/storm surges etc
• Slow onset / gradual effects leading to disasters
– Salinity intrusion, river bank erosion,
temperature variability, erratic precipitation etc.
•Climate Change also has severe social impacts
that will cause internal and external migration of
displaced community
Impact of AILA ……
Embankment breached during Aila remains unrepaired &
water rushes inside the poldered areas
Impact of AILA
People’s Response to Post-Aila Situation
People migrate from Kalabogi Village, Dacope
Resilience
• Despite continued CC-related disasters BD
economy has continued to grow – poverty
has fallen; major social gains such as
gender equity in primary education, IMR
decline, life expectancy increased
• Food production continues to grow
• But continued CC will literally wash away
such achievements
Challenges of Climate Change
• Bangladesh is an innocent victim of adverse
impacts of Climate Change.
• To manage the impacts, Bangladesh has taken
a two-pronged approach.
-It has been vigorously participating in the
international negotiations process for
realisation of the goals under the Bali Action
Plan
-as well as preparing itself at home for
necessary domestic action.
Climate Change: Bangladesh Response
 Prepared
National Adaptation Programme of
Action (NAPA) in 2005; identified 15 Priority
projects.
 Prepared
Initial National Communication and
preparing Second National Communication.
 Made
climate change an integral part of the new
draft Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP)
 Developed
Bangladesh Climate Change
Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP 2009)
 National
Water Management Plan
Challenges of Climate Change
• The cornerstones of all actions, international or
domestic, are to ensure security of food, water,
energy and, livelihood (including health).
• BCCSAP 2009 has laid out Bangladesh’s
possible response to impacts of climate change.
• BCCSAP contains 6 themes and 44 programme
areas.
• Establishment of Climate Change Trust Fund
with an allocation of US$ 100 m for this year
• Implementation is ongoing
Agriculture & food Security Challenges
• Country is now largely food secure – but
limits of rice cultivation has been reached
in dry period with ground water irrigation
• Paradigm shift to wet period aman rice
needed – aman, however, is highly
susceptible to adverse impacts of climate
change
Health and Nutritional Challenges
• Arsenic contamination poses major threat
to health
• Re-emergence of vector borne diseases
• Increased malnutrition among the poor
contribute to the spread of communicable
and non-communicable diseases
• Increased incidence of different
degenerative diseases due to salinity
intrusion
Development Approaches…..
• Climate change as well as environmental
degradation has to be faced in an
integrated and well-coordinated manner
by all sectors.
• Accordingly, the Sixth Five Year Plan
under preparation at present is expected
to provide an integrated approach to
economic and social development
incorporating these challenges and
opportunities.
Development Approaches…..
• Government is aware of the multifarious and
interactive nature of climate change and
environmental degradation problems
• Appropriate sectoral policies are therefore being
harmonised, and laws are being revised and
upgraded.
• Human and institutional capacity for effective
monitoring of nature and extent of degradation
need to be enhanced.
• Prioritisation of BCCSAP 2009 programmes has
been taken up in earnest.
Development Approaches……….
• Key to adaptation under climate change is
proper management of water resources
including maintenance of river flow through
capital dredging
• Rehabilitation of coastal and other areas
through strengthening of water reservoir and
polder programmes
• Community-based and co-management of
forests including coastal greenbelt,
biodiversity and wetlands etc.
Development Approaches……….
• Strengthening of community-based disaster
risk reduction programme
• Disaster management and Relief Division has
identified immediate need for establishing
new 2000 coastal cyclone shelters, 2000 flood
victim shelters, 150000 storm proof house in
the coastal area, 60000 houses for river
erosion victims (estimated cost US$ 1.22 b)
Regional Cooperation
• Effective water and ecosystem management in
Bangladesh calls for strengthening of GBM regional
cooperation in terms of basin-wide river
management and joint water development and
watersharing activities by the regional countries
Recent Success To be Built Upon …..
• Bangladesh has already developed salinity
tolerant, flood tolerant and shorter maturity
varieties of rice. This will help in the short
run.
• Extensive agricultural extension services
are needed to make these varieties available
to the farmers.
• But this is only the beginning: more
varieties and appropriate ecosystem-based
agricultural system need to be developed
and popularised
Research, Knowledge Management &
Capacity Building
• Continuous research, monitoring and knowledge
management and development and transfer of
technology, are needed to manage climate change
and its impacts.
• One immediate need is to start multi-disciplinary
human capability development planning and
implementation for climate and environmental
management.
• Intensive training program for climate displaced
community to adapt and cope with new situation
On Finance….
• The government has identified an
urgent need for US$ 10 billion over 5
years.
• This fund is mostly expected to be
raised through bi-lateral and multilateral sources, while the government will
also make possible contribution
Thank
you for your
patience