Bangladesh Rural Community spends around Tk.16 billion a year to tackle climate change damages
The world’s industrialized/Developed nations are primarily responsible for climate change. However, the consequences that affect the poor people of developing and underdeveloped countries, including Bangladesh, are.
A recent research study revealed that rural households in Bangladesh spend about Tk 158 billion a year on maintenance or protection against climate change (Tk.85.85≈US$1).
This expense is double from the National Climate Fund of the Government of Bangladesh and 12 times higher than what Bangladesh gets from international donors.
These findings got from a research study jointly conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Kingston University in the UK, and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIID) in London.
These findings got from a research study jointly conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Kingston University in the UK, and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIID) in London.
Mamunur Rashid, a climate change expert at the UNDP Bangladesh office, said, ” As the rural have to spend a lot of money for the survival of lives from the effects of climate change, hence they have no sufficient money to improve their quality of life. However, the money they spend is not added to the list of ”climate finance” in the world.”
The UNDP officer addresses these poor people as “The most silent financier”
A survey on 1,320 flood-affected families in Bangladesh by the London-based organization IIED found that about one-third of families had built their homes with their own money to protect themselves from the floods. The rest had to spend money on livestock security or other measures.
The survey also found that women are more likely to protect their families and properties y than men. That is why a large portion of the income in a female-dominated household had been spent on this sector.
According to the organization German watch’s 2021 Climate Change Performance Index, only six countries were far more affected by climate change from 2000 to 2019. Bangladesh’s climate change cost 0.41 percent of its GDP in those years, while a single hurricane in 2019 lost the country’s US$8.1 billion.
Despite increasing its GDP from US$6.2 billion in 1972 to US$305 billion in 2019, Bangladesh cannot afford the cost of global warming on its own. Climate change is having a significant influence on rural physical infrastructure.
Roads, bridges/culverts, markets, disaster shelters, solid waste disposal, and small-scale water resources are examples of physical infrastructure. Physical infrastructure will be damaged due to climate change after natural disasters, as climate change increases the likelihood of natural disasters.
The salinity, soil erosion, embankment failure owing to soil conditions, and disaster issues all significantly impact rural infrastructure. Furthermore, the costs of rural infrastructure repair, operation, and maintenance will rise due to the effects. Costs of new infrastructure projects will increase as more significant design standards are required to develop climate-proof infrastructure.
Furthermore, when the adverse effects of climate change on rural areas generate increased migration to urban areas in quest of non-agricultural work, the demand for scarce housing, water, sanitation, and energy services increases.
As Bangladesh prepares to depart from Least Developed Country (LDC) status and become more deeply involved in many international activities and concerns over the next few years, we must make climate change funding a national and diplomatic priority as well.
