Climate Change in Bangladesh

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, in conjunction with The Asia Program, The Environmental Change and Security Program, and The Comparative Urban Studies Project, presented a panel discussion about the effects of climate change on Bangladesh on Monday, September 19. The conference, entitled Perfect Storm? Population Pressures, Natural Resource Constraints, and Climate Change in Bangladesh, explored the dangers that global climate change presents for this small nation, which the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has predicted as severe. The populous nation is expected to reach 200 million people by 2050; however, with a forecasted sea level rise of two to three feet, one-fifth of its landmass is expected to be destroyed. This loss of land holds particular implications for agriculture, with a predicted loss of staple crops of about 30 percent, as well as for the area’s inhabitants, leading to at least 20 million displaced people.

With such grave implications looming for Bangladesh, an overwhelming need for scholarly discourse presents itself. The conference consisted of two panels and included six speakers: Ali Riaz, who discussed Climate Change and National Security; Mohamed Khalequzzaman, Geological Aspects of Climate Change and the Fate of the Bengal Delta; Adnan Morshed, The Central Threat: Dhaka as a Frontier in the Climate-Change Narrative of Bangladesh; Roger-Mark De Souza, Population and Climate Connections: Effective Pathways to Calming the Storm; Shamarukh Mohiuddin, Adaption Needs in Bangladesh and the U.S. Response; and Philip J. DeCosse, Storm Surges, Coastal Forests, Local Governance, and Food Security: Innovations from Bangladesh.

Many of the speakers framed their talks around security. As Riaz pointed out, security can be both traditional, in military terms, and nontraditional, in relation to human activity and food. Together, traditional and nontraditional security comprise national security. The effects of climate change threaten all aspects of Bangladesh’s security as a nation. Not only does climate change hold repercussions for Bangladesh’s southern low-lying coastal areas, but its rural zones and urban centers are also at risk. Rising sea levels translate to massive internal migration, as individuals are forced out of their homes. However, it also means a considerable shift toward food insecurity, as lands are destroyed and fresh water sources obliterated. Currently, 56 percent of current food production comes from irrigated agriculture, a reality that cannot continue without readily available fresh water. Just as significant of an issue, though, is the uncontrolled urbanization of Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital city. The hyper-urbanization of Dhaka has lead to the proliferation of slums and squatter settlements and the dominance of social insecurities over the lives of many inhabitants. This unplanned urban sprawl also has serious environmental consequences, disrupting the fragile river ecosystem that feeds Dhaka and spewing pollution into the air with unprecedented traffic congestion.

Khalequzzaman emphasized that without intervention, that with an acceptance of the status quo, the situation in Bangladesh will result in the “Perfect Storm:” a host of issues and a scarcity of solutions. The issue of Bangladesh’s future needs to be brought to an international level. However, action cannot occur at the expense of the nation’s sovereignty. The speakers warned that if the capacity of the state shrinks, if social wellbeing relies too heavily on international or non-governmental actors, then Bangladeshi governance may turn to the adoption of more authoritarian methods. In the meantime, however, policies need to put in place and alternative solutions explored to help Bangladesh adapt to the severe ecological changes that threaten to redefine this highly vulnerable nation.


Colleen Quinn