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As climate change accelerates, adaptive social protection programmes are becoming increasingly more popular than conventional social assistance programmes, since they are seen to enhance people's resilience and well-being outcomes. Despite this upsurge, little is known about the impacts of adaptive programmes on resilience and well-being outcomes as compared to conventional programmes. This paper examines the economic functions that both types of social protection programmes offer through empirical studies in two climate-vulnerable zones in Bangladesh. By operationalising a simplified analytical framework to comprehend subjective resilience, the qualitative data reveal that the adaptive programme is more effective in enhancing beneficiaries' perceived resilience to climate risks. Regrettably, neither programme is found to contribute much significantly in terms of enabling beneficiaries to achieve the desired well-being outcomes that one might expect to see. The paper offers rich insights into the design components of the programmes, affording an on-the-ground understanding of their implications for resilience and well-being., (© 2022 The Authors Disasters © 2022 ODI.)

South Asia is comprised of several countries, including Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka, all ranked highly at risk of climatic variability. The region's susceptibility to climate change can be attributed to both its spatial and inherent characteristics. Considering the countries' high dependence on agricultural products, to support their economies and growing populations, it is vital to measure the factors impacting crop productivity. This study quantifies the change in temperature and precipitation, coupled with their respective effects on the productivity of three major crops, wheat, rice and cotton, within two of Pakistan's largest provinces: Punjab and Sindh. Based on the collated data, multivariate regression analysis is conducted. Moreover, highly vulnerable areas to climate change have been identified under RCP scenarios 4.5 and 8.5, until the end of this century. Results reveal that there is a substantial increasing trend in temperature, whereas precipitation has high inter-annual variability. Regression outcomes, based on fixed/random effects models, indicate that temperature above threshold values of 24.3 °C, 33.0 °C and 32.0 °C for wheat, rice and cotton, respectively, negatively impacts productivity (statistically significant). Precipitation is statistically insignificant in explaining its role in crop productivity. Overall, the region is heading towards temperature and threshold exceedances at an alarming rate, which will impact the overall availability of suitable crop-growing areas.

Homestead forests play an important role in climate change adaptation and mitigation. This study investigated homestead forest owners' perceptions on climate change and associated impacts, as well as the role that homestead forests could play to enhance households' climate adaptation in Bandarban hill district of Bangladesh. Methods involved randomly surveying a total of 176 homestead households at three different hill altitudes: low, medium, and high. We also analyzed the meteorological data on local rainfall and temperature for the period of 1990 to 2019. Results showed that most (76-94%) of the homestead forest owners perceived an increasing erratic pattern of annual temperature and rainfall which was supported by the analysis of local meteorological data. Forest owners´ perceptions towards changes in tree phenology, increase in food insecurity, landslides, and pest infestation, and decrease in crop production, soil fertility, and seasonal streamflow were revealed as pieces of evidence of climate change impacts that varied significantly with hill altitudes and associated ecosystems. About 66% to 97% of the housheolds perceived that homestead forests could play a pivotal role in enhancing their capacity to adapt with the changing climate by supplying diverse products, services, and environmental benefits. Understanding and perceptions of the environmental benefits of homestead forests also significantly varied with the type of households´ construction, income, and literacy of the household members. Our results will help policymakers to ensure these small-scale homestead forests are conserved since they could also provide multiple environmental benefits e.g., carbon sequestration in addition to enhancing community climate adaptation., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

People living in deltaic areas in developing countries are especially prone to suffer the effects from natural disasters due to their geographical and economic structure. Climate change is contributing to an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme events affecting the environmental conditions of deltas, threatening the socioeconomic development of people and, eventually, triggering migration as an adaptation strategy. Climate change will likely contribute to worsening environmental stress in deltas, and understanding the relations between climate change, environmental impacts, socioeconomic conditions, and migration is emerging as a key element for planning climate adaptation. In this study, we use data from migration surveys and econometric techniques to analyse the extent to which environmental impacts affect individual migration decision-making in two delta regions in Bangladesh and Ghana. The results show that, in both deltas, climatic shocks that negatively affect economic security are significant drivers of migration, although the surveyed households do not identify environmental pressures as the root cause of the displacement. Furthermore, environmental impacts affecting food security and crop and livestock production are also significant as events inducing people to migrate, but only in Ghana. We also find that suffering from environmental stress can intensify or reduce the effects of socioeconomic drivers. In this sense, adverse climatic shocks may not only have a direct impact on migration but may also condition migration decisions indirectly through the occupation, the education, or the marital status of the person. We conclude that although climate change and related environmental pressures are not perceived as key drivers of migration, they affect migration decisions through indirect channels (e.g., reducing economic security or reinforcing the effect of socioeconomic drivers)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

While the links between climate-induced migration and urban challenges have been documented, there remains a paucity of research, policy, and action on different challenges of urban poverty compared with rural poverty in Bangladesh. However, the urban poor have continued to be overlooked in development and climate contexts. This paper reviews the underlying factors of climate-induced population migration and its connection with multi-pluralistic challenges for urban poor individuals in Bangladesh. It also explains multiple responses to urban hazards and revisits urban policies related to resilience and sustainability. A desk review of different existing resources, such as academic papers, organizational research reports, newspapers clippings, and documentaries, was conducted to achieve the overall purpose for this paper. Both theoretical and empirical evidence were identified and mainstreamed by categorizing them into specific domains to reinvestigate the groundbreaking factors associated with climate migration and thereby demonstrate the bridge between policies and practices related to urban challenges. Marx's conflict theory was applied to reiterate existing inequalities associated with urban problems and hazards and then contextualized to weigh and analyze newly generated urban disparities experienced at the individual to national level. Rising sea levels, natural hazards, sudden onset disasters were identified as the drivers of climate-induced migration that forcefully displace people from their homeland to nearby cities. Limited access to public healthcare services; huge population density; inadequate food, water, and sanitation overcrowding; lack of housing; limited coping mechanisms; and little adaptive capacity with climatic conditions seriously worsen the existing problems for urban poor in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weather and climate‐related human mobility (climate mobilities) including displacement are often viewed as security concerns. The recent coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic adds yet another layer of complexity which calls for unpacking these connections. This paper explores how existing patterns of migration and displacement that are driven by climate change impacts are compounded by the ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic. First, the paper outlines the links between extreme weather events and human mobility to then explore how the impacts from COVID‐19 interact, cascade and compound pre‐existing vulnerabilities of people on the move. Examining the ways in which climate change is potentially driving or shifting patterns of climate mobility allows a shared understanding of this complex issue to be gained. This paper contextualises the compounding impacts with a geographical focus on Bangladesh, a well‐known climate hotspot. The paper contributes to the debates on impacts and human responses to climate change and concludes with a set of policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh is passing through the dividend phase of demographic transition, with 45 million (over a quarter of the total population) in the age group of 15-29 years and 52.8 million (about a third) in the 15-36 age group. Young scientists belong to the upper segments of the later age group (some may be somewhat older than 36), who will in the fullness of time, take up leadership positions in their respective fields. Whatever be the field of human endeavour, the capability of the protagonists, is certainly a pivotal key to success. Indeed, human capability depends on education, skill training and health services. The better the availability of these services, the better is expected to be the ability acquired by the people concerned. One of these key services, health, is included in the theme of this conference. This paper has proposed that a universal health coverage (UHC) system be developed in Bangladesh so that people from all walks of life can access at least primary health services. The UHC can be developed centering around the 14,000 or so Community Clinics in place all around rural Bangladesh. Bangladesh is pursuing the goal of sustainable development within the UN adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development framework. This agenda is anchored on three pillars-economic, social and environmental. Sustainable development can be succinctly defined as socially acceptable, environmentally sound economic growth. Also, a basic tenet characterising sustainable development is that nobody can be left behind, i.e., everybody has to be included. The theme of this conference consist of the environmental pillar of sustainable development. In fact, the environment is the ultimate resource base of all development. Climate change, a major sub-set of environmental issues, is fast deteriorating and becoming an existential threat to humanity. This paper has discussed what has been happening in relation to climate change and what is being done to combat the menace globally and in Bangladesh. The efforts of Bangladesh in policy, programming, funding, and action in the context of responding to the increasingly adverse impacts on the country caused by the worsening climate change have been reviewed. Also, since this problem is global and cannot be adequately combatted by any one country, much less by a resource-poor country like Bangladesh, what role the international community is playing in this regard has been examined. The final section relates the lessons from the above discussions and reviews the future roles that young scientists need to play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Riparian communities in developing countries such as Bangladesh, whose livelihoods depend especially on fisheries and other subsistence activities, are under considerable pressure due to climate change. Therefore, there is a need to better understand how the dynamics of riparian communities are influenced by climate change and how its impacts can be assessed. Using Bangladesh as an example, this paper describes the various climate stressors affecting riparian communities and their socio‐economic impacts, and it outlines some measures needed to increase their resilience to a changing climate. The results show that riparian communities are not only quite vulnerable to the impacts of climate change but also have a rather low level of resilience. This challenge can, at least in part, be attributed to their fragile living conditions, which intensify the socio‐economic impacts of extreme events. One lesson from the paper is that handling climate‐induced risks in riparian communities requires implementing strategic measures to improve local climate and livelihood resilience, such as effective public health infrastructure and a resilient built environment. Win‐win scenarios comprise strategies that offer multiple benefits including better water storage, flood control, and improved riparian habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the close interaction between environmental hazards and non-environmental factors inducing people to leave their areas of origin, augmented by the struggles they face and their urban survival strategies. Focusing on Aila-induced migrants in a slum in Khulna city, the study questions the conventional notion that environmental hazards singularly propel coastal inhabitants' migration. Instead, it asserts that migration results from a convergence of multi-causal factors, notably, the interplay between environmental hazards, socio-political and economic vulnerabilities, and proximity to ecologically fragile regions. Initially driven by subsistence needs, migration has transformed into something greater for many marginalized individuals. These migrants develop strong bonds with specific locations and location-specific networks, which facilitate their transition to urban life and allow them to mitigate the challenges associated with urban living. This study sheds light on the nuanced dynamics of climate-induced migration, emphasizing the necessity for comprehensive policy responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite there being a well-documented need, as well as opportunity, to enhance foreign direct investment ('FDI') inflow to climate-friendly ('green') economic activities in Bangladesh, the reality portrays a stark contrast. Nowhere is it more obvious than the evolving investment relationship between China and Bangladesh under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Originally under the rubric of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor, and later under the garb of the BRI, Chinese investments in Bangladesh have predominantly ended up in fossil fuel-based sectors. Even after the advent and expansion of the 'green BRI' initiative, reality has not changed much. This article offers an assessment of investment inflows from China to Bangladesh under the BRI umbrella against the backdrop of a growing green investment trend and the existing applicable legal framework. It finds that key legal and policy challenges that prevent leveraging of the BRI for green investment into Bangladesh include: an uncoordinated approach from the government, a disregard for the role of economic policy instruments for climate action, and politically motivated, as well as path-dependent decision-making with respect to investment promotion. This paper suggests that ambitious climate commitments combining economic policy tools, along with a more integrative and holistic domestic approach to climate action and investment promotion, can help shift the status quo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers an ethnographic engagement with the present and futures of Bangladesh's southwest delta. The southwest – which houses the Sundarbans, the world's largest remaining mangrove forest – is at once profoundly vulnerable to climate change and a site critical to Bangladesh's economic development. It figures thus both as a space of optimistic industrial growth and planetary threat. I explore what I call delta temporalities – the dissonant and possibly incommensurate imaginations of the future, and more importantly the projects seeking to bring them about, that proliferate in and shape the delta's fragile ecology in the present. Tracing tensions between conservation initiatives, dredging projects that attempt to keep rivers flowing for shipping and transportation, and new industrial and energy infrastructure projects, this paper reveals how and why the southwest – and deltas more broadly – have become key chokepoints of the Anthropocene, zones where the future itself becomes blocked and the present imperilled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge sharing in rural agricultural communities is vital to the success of farmers and sustaining high yields. A range of actors in the knowledge landscape participate in knowledge sharing, and with this, a variety of complexities are introduced. In this paper, we report on a set of field visits, interviews and focus groups in various settings to understand this complex nature of the knowledge landscape. Our study was set within multiple locations within 20 miles North‐East of Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. Our findings highlight the high level of interconnectedness of different actors in the agricultural communities and the complexities involved in establishing trust of information. We report on the importance of fostering successful relationships within the communities and the growing strains of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sundarbans, a natural shield on earth, is one and only place that has many noteworthy environmental and geographical values with breathtaking natural beauties. Near the Sundarbans area, proliferation of aquaculture in this delta contributes appreciably to the national economy. Although aquaculture has become a means of daily livelihood, this sector is nevertheless threatened by a complex of climate change impacts. Cyclones, rising temperatures, rising sea levels, coastal flooding, and erosion make coastal farming difficult. As a panacea, the Sundarbans can play a critical role in preserving coastal aquaculture. As noticed, forests have high potential to recover from unusual consequences of climate change. Practicing safe aquaculture should be opted to refrain from endangering the Sundarbans. This review addressed various climate change impacts on coastal farming and identified the capabilities of the Sundarbans to protect coastal aquaculture from calamitous impacts. Findings show clues for researchers to analyze problems, consequences, and mitigations., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

In Bangladesh, fishing communities are one of the most climate-vulnerable groups, though they play an important role in economic development. The main objective of this study was to identify vulnerability by exploring exposure (i.e., lack of regulating services or household capitals), susceptibility (i.e., lack of access to provisioning services), and lack of resilience (i.e., lack of alternative livelihoods and capacity) and to explore adaptation options, and challenges to understand risk governance. The study considered 45 published research articles for analysis following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Keywords were used in combinations (e.g., fishing communities and Bangladesh) to identify and screen published articles. Articles published in English focusing on vulnerability and/or risk governance, published between 2011 and 2022, featuring original empirical data or a comprehensive systematic review, and published in peer-reviewed journals were included. Articles were excluded if vulnerability and risk governance were evaluated but did not fit or match the definition used in this study. The study found frequent disasters and ocean warming caused different stresses, such as reduced fish catch and income, and resulted in an increased risk of fisheries conflict. Moreover, fishing communities have limited access to properties, modern fishing equipment, financial institutions, and fisher-centered organizations. Adaptation strategies include ecosystem-based (e.g., plantation, payment for ecosystem services) and non-ecosystem-based (e.g., temporary migration, getting help from neighbors) approaches. To boost fish production, the Government of Bangladesh instituted fishing restrictions and social safety net programs (e.g., distributing rice during the fishing restrictions); both initiatives were helpful. However, the conservation policies are not being implemented properly, and there is no particular social welfare, such as banking systems, and low- or no-interest loans being provided that may support fishers to buy fishing equipment or generate alternative income sources. Considering the previous evidence of risks, this paper recommends that fisheries conservation policies be implemented properly, and fishing communities be provided with insurance services and no- or low-interest loans. This will contribute to reducing the climate-induced social-ecological risk and improve sustainable livelihoods that can withstand any regional, national, or local crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates household's private expenditures to cope with the harmful losses of climate change and disasters. Using household-level survey data from Bangladesh, this paper finds that disaster-affected rural Bangladeshi households allocate between $499 and $1076 in disaster-related expenditures. Such expenditures are always greater than their relevant precautionary savings, implying that those households may debt-finance their defensive measures. Households with greater precautionary savings spend more: a 100% increase in precautionary savings can increase disaster expenditures by 5%. Moreover, there are considerable regional heterogeneities in household's disaster expenditures. Increased public sector allocations in addition to carefully designed affordable market-based financing instruments can potentially ease the pressure on disaster-affected households in their fight against the harms of climate change and disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh has been ranked as one of the world's top countries affected by climate change, particularly in terms of agricultural crop sector. The purpose of this study is to identify spatial and temporal changes and trends in long-term climate at local and national scales, as well as their implications for rice yield. In this study, Modified Mann-Kendall and Sen's slope tests were used to detect significant trends and the magnitude of changes in temperature and rainfall. The temperature and rainfall data observed and recorded at 35 meteorological stations in Bangladesh over 65-years in the time span between the years 1949 and 2013 have been used to detect these changes and trends of variation. The results show that mean annual Tmean, Tmin, and Tmax have increased significantly by 0.13°C, 0.13°C, and 0.13°C/decade, respectively. The most significant increasing trend in seasonal temperatures for the respective Tmean, Tmin, and Tmax was 0.18°C per decade (post-monsoon), 0.18°C/decade (winter), and 0.23°C/decade (post-monsoon), respectively. Furthermore, the mean annual and pre-monsoon rainfall showed a significant increasing trend at a rate of 4.20 mm and 1.35 mm/year, respectively. This paper also evaluates climate variability impacts on three major rice crops, Aus, Aman, and Boro during 1970–2013. The results suggest that crop yield variability can be explained by climate variability during Aus, Aman, and Boro seasons by 33, 25, and 16%, respectively. Maximum temperature significantly affected the Aus and Aman crop yield, whereas rainfall significantly affected all rice crops' yield. This study sheds light on sustainable agriculture in the context of climate change, which all relevant authorities should investigate in order to examine climate-resilient, high-yield crop cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of ethnic and cultural violence in Myanmar, approximately a million Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh starting from August 2017, in what the UN has called a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing". Those arriving in Bangladesh were able to escape decade-long ethnic violence in Myanmar, but the Rohingya's immediate destination, Cox's Bazar district is one of the most climate-vulnerable and disaster-prone areas in Bangladesh. Currently, they have been subjected to extreme rainfalls, landslides, and flashfloods. With the COVID-19 pandemic, they continue to face fear and further marginalization in resource-constrained Bangladesh, as well as increased vulnerability due to tropical cyclones, flashfloods, and landslides. The Rohingya in southeast Bangladesh are now at the epicenter of a humanitarian and sustainability crisis. However, their situation is not entirely unique. Millions of displaced, stateless or refugees around the world are facing multi-dimensional crises in various complex geopolitical, and climatic situations. Using the theoretical lens of political ecology and critical development studies, this paper analyzes the sustainability–peace nexus for millions of Rohingya in Myanmar and in Bangladesh. This paper is based on information from various sources, including three ethnographic field visits in recent years, which helped to get local insights into the current sustainability challenges in this humanitarian context. The core arguments of this paper suggest that sustainability–peace nexus will especially be compromised in climate-vulnerable resource-constrained conditions. To overcome this challenge, decolonizing Rohingya solutions would be critical, by engaging the Rohingya in the process of development and meaningful change, which can affect their lives, livelihoods, and wellbeing. Even though this paper has a specific geographical focus, the insights are relevant in parts of the world facing similar social, economic, political, and environmental challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study has been conducted to identify vulnerabilities and effects of climate change on women in 12 unions in Shyamnagar upazila in the Satkhira district in the Southwestern Coastal Region of Bangladesh (SWCRB). Climate vulnerability and gender inequality may increase due to climate change. Women may, thus, face specific conditions of vulnerability in society and daily livelihood. This paper focuses on investigating factors that influence women's vulnerability from climate change, their adaptations, and the importance of women empowerment to reduce their inequality in SWCRB. This study also emphasizes gender inequality caused by climate change, and looks at accommodations for women to reduce hostile influences of climate change. From the 9 unions in SWCRB, a total of 320 household respondents were randomly selected to complete a questionnaire. The results of the statistical analysis showed that most of the survey's perimeter has significant. Interviews, case studies, focus group discussions, workshops, and key informant interviews were also conducted from 12 unions, and it was found that climate change impacts men and women differently, with women being more vulnerable than men. Through case study this paper investigated the main factors influencing the vulnerability of women. In terms of empowerment women may also be well positioned to lead adaptation efforts alongside men, as this analysis represent that gender inequalities are leading by social norms. Women being more vulnerable both in short-term i.e., major natural disasters, cyclones, flood, and long-term i.e., sea level rise, salinity intrusion in water and soil, land erosion, droughts, climatic events, as they enhance gender inequalities. Further, gender inequality is seen in illiteracy, food shortages and poor health conditions, traditional norms, religious taboos, and patriarchy. Moreover, gender-based economic opportunities, women's mobility, and income are changing, while household authority relations and gender-based socio-economic, cultural, and institutional constraints remain. This study examines the increased vulnerability of women in SWCRB to climate change, which can be mitigated through women empowerment; female involvement with environmentally friendly stoves, rural electrification and renewable energy development, microfinancing, and nakshikantha. (Nakshikantha is a special type of sewing art that is made by creating designs with different types of colored threads on plain stitches). Lastly, women may also lead adaptation efforts alongside men, make decisions, and promote their participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a clear need for an understanding of the perceptions of climate change among those whose lives are most affected to inform national discourse and in particular, development and implementation of adaptation strategies. The paper is the outcome of a qualitative study among the local people of Charhajari, Anuliya and Nitpur unions of Bangladesh. The key informant technique, along with in-depth interview, had been exploited for gaining holistic perceptions on climatic scenario in the localities, while focus group discussion and case study were used for mapping out collective social consensus on the subject. The study has elucidated the threats climate change poses to established long-term beliefs, practices and perceptions by instigating erratic changes in weather patterns, shifting seasons, and questioning efficacy and authority of traditional interpretation of local weather. Local inhabitants have their own way of internalization and symbolic interpretation of climate induced debacles. Of the indicators demonstrating the impacts of climate change on local communities, seasonal diversity decline is central for affecting every aspects of socio-economic life including rituals and festivals. Apart from these, inhabitants have explored a number of independent and dependent climatic hazards they are under exposed. The paper concludes that experience of climate change impacts is for most cases ecosystem based but perception appears to be culturally specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a review of water research, development, and management in Bangladesh, with examples drawn from the past and present. A bibliometric analysis is adopted here to analyze the water-related publication data of Bangladesh. Water-quality-related research is the dominating research field in Bangladesh as compared to water-quantity (floods and droughts)-related ones. The most productive author was found to be Ahmed KM for water-related publication in Bangladesh. The arsenic contamination in Bangladesh has received the highest attention (13 out of the top 15 highly cited papers are related to arsenic contamination). Climate-change-related topics have been showing an increasing trend in research publications over the last 5 years. Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100, prepared recently, is a visionary master plan that is expected to shape water management in Bangladesh in the coming decades to adapt to climate change. A set of recommendations is made here to achieve sustainable water management in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The north-western part of Bangladesh especially the Barind region is considered as a drought-prone area. The objective of this paper is to find out the adaptation measures practised by farmers to cope with climate change and agricultural drought in two drought-prone villages of the north-western Bangladesh. The primary data for this study were collected from a structured questionnaire survey conducted on 130 households selected from 192 through simple random sampling. The present study finds that agriculture of this area is recurrently disrupted by frequent drought events. Moreover, the climate change will increase both frequency and magnitude of extreme drought events in this region. This paper identifies that the impacts of drought on agriculture are difficulties in irrigation, disruption in cropping pattern, depletion of ground water table, problem in fish cultivation and so on. On the other hand, analyses unveil that respondents practised a range of adjustment strategies to combat adverse impacts of drought such as adoptions of drought-tolerant crop varieties, rainwater harvesting, mango and jujube intercropping with rice, kitchen gardening, weed control and reducing water loss, constructing water control structures, irrigation and cultivation of fast-growing fish species. Therefore, the present study recommends proper drought early warning system, reserving surface water, managing supplemental irrigation, tree plantation, re-excavation of canals and traditional ponds, credit support to the farmers, preparedness and awareness rising to ensure the future sustainable agricultural development in the study areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in examining climate change adaptation has arisen in many disciplines in the past two decades; however to date, sociologists have given only sparse attention to the issue. This is both a missed opportunity for sociologists and a detriment to the study of adaptation. In this paper, we set out the following research agenda: bringing core concerns of sociology into the critically important conversation of how society will respond to climate change. We identify five broad themes in which sociologists can begin their work on adaptation: (1) structures and resource access, (2) social cohesion and future planning, (3) constraints of social stratifications, (4) power and agency in decision‐making, and (5) justice in process and outcomes. After summarizing existing sociological work on adaptation and detailing our research agenda, we draw examples from our own work in Bangladesh to illustrate how this agenda might be taken up. In doing so, we point to several places where sociological insights come into play in questions related to development, organizations, expertise, migration, gender, and labor. We believe a robust sociological analysis can produce a clarified, reparative, and just conceptualization of adaptation that will contribute to the growing global discourse on the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The year 2022 has served as a recall for the impact that climate change has in the South Asian region, which is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate shock. With a paucity of climate-based and geospatial observational studies in South Asia, this paper (i) links power sectors and carbon dioxide emissions, (ii) maps nitrogen dioxide density across three countries (Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh), (iii) understands electricity generation trends and projects weather changes through 2100. We monitored data monitored between 1995 and 2021. The following databases were used: the International Energy Agency, the World Bank, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization. Raw data was obtained for climate indicators, which were entered into Microsoft Excel. Geospatial trends were generated in the ArcGIS geostatistical tool by adopting the ordinary kriging method to interpolate and create continuous surfaces depicting the concentration of nitrogen dioxide in the three countries. We found increased usage of coal and fossil fuels in three countries (Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh). Both were significant contributors to carbon dioxide emissions. The geographic localities in South Asia were densely clouded with nitrogen dioxide as reported with the tropospheric column mapping. There are expected to be increased days with a heat index >35 °C, and consecutive dry days from 2020 and 2100. We also found increased chances of flooding in certain regions across the three countries. This study monitored climate change indicators and projects between 1995 and 2100. Lastly, we make recommendations to improve the relationship of the environment and living beings.

Bangladesh is one of the countries that is most likely to be affected by natural disasters and climate change. However, much less is known about the integrated livelihood and climate vulnerabilities of coastal communities to natural disasters in southwestern Bangladesh. Therefore, this paper proposes a holistic approach to measuring livelihood vulnerability in the southwestern coast of Bangladesh based on primary data from 300 respondents through face-to-face interviews, focus group discussion (FGD), and key informant interviews (KII), and secondary data on rainfall and temperature for the years 2010–2017. This study developed the livelihood vulnerability index (LVI), the climate vulnerability index (CVI), and the LVI-IPCC to estimate climate vulnerability by incorporating 36 indicators of 9 major components under three dimensions. The pragmatic results show that the three coastal unions have different LVI, CVI, and LVI-IPCC values. Still, the households of the Gabura union showed more vulnerability than the rest of the two, with the highest LVI, CVI, and LVI-IPCC values due to their inadequate access to fresh water, limited physical resources, fewest livelihood strategies, the least variety of crops, and worst health conditions. This logical approach may be applied in data-scarce regions to assess vulnerability and evaluate potential policy efficiency for baseline comparison. The study demonstrates that the requirement for focused interventions and context-specific sustainable policies and development approaches should be implemented to lessen the vulnerability of coastal dwellers. These findings have implications for developing and implementing household resilience and climate change adaptation projects by the government, donor organizations, and other pertinent groups in three susceptible unions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 2018 and 2020, CyArk, Google Arts and Culture and the International Council for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) worked together on the Heritage on the Edge project. Launched on the Google Arts and Culture platform in January 2020, this project utilised a range of techniques to highlight the impacts and local experiences of climate change at five cultural World Heritage Sites in Bangladesh, Peru, Rapa Nui, Scotland and Tanzania. All five sites are experiencing different climate change impacts and each has been responding and adapting to these challenges in unique and locally appropriate ways. The project illustrates both the value of collaboration between different organisations, and the role of this historic environment in climate change communication and public engagement. This paper will introduce the project aims, objectives and methodology with a particular focus on the project review and web analytics for the six-month period following the project launch. Results suggest global meaningful engagement with some considerable gaps especially in low and middle-income countries. It concludes by exploring some useful lessons for future digital projects, exploring ways to increase geographical reach and improve viewer engagement, and to ensure more equitable collaborations with partner sites and countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to understand the impact of salinity on women in coastal areas of Bangladesh. While there is ample information on the impact of climate change on coastal areas in Bangladesh, the literature shows that there is hardly any information on the impact of climate-induced salinity on women. This study is an attempt to fill this gap. An in-depth interview method was applied to collect primary data from a salinity prone coastal region in Satkhira District of Bangladesh. The study shows that salinity affects the women and girls in many ways. The impacts of salinity on women include the unattractiveness of women and girls due to the loss of hair and skin color, the increased burden of work due to water collection far from homes, unable to attend school by girls, the sufferings of women from various diseases, health and hygiene problem, and early child marriage. The consequences of the impacts of salinity on women lead to domestic violence, increased rate of divorce, increased number of female-headed households, and increased poverty due to limited sources of livelihoods. Overall, the adverse impacts of salinity on women make them more vulnerable socially and financially. The policy implications of this study may include the increased awareness of males about the impacts of salinity on women, appropriate institutional arrangements by the government including the adoption of policies and plans incorporating the issues faced by the women due to increasing salinity. It is expected that this study will not only be useful to policymakers in Bangladesh but also to other countries with similar contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the state of management practices of existing multi-purpose cyclone shelters (MPCS) facilities across the 16 coastal districts in the country, in the context of an identified need for 5,500 new MPCS facilities in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach – A “multi-capitals” framework – a conceptual model for appraising the state of MPCS facilities based on seven forms of capital resources – is adopted. Findings – MPCS facilities are not equitably distributed across the 16 coastal districts to cater to the needs of the highly vulnerable population. Nearly 9 per cent of the existing shelters are unusable in the event of cyclones. Once built, MPCS facilities have no maintenance funding and only around 19 per cent of shelters have a governance mechanism that enables community participation. A strong correlation (r = 0.65) was detected between the availability of maintenance funds and provision for community participation. Research limitations/implications – The potential of a multi-capitals framework to assess the management practices of existing MPCS facilities in a holistic way was limited by the secondary nature of data on the four forms of capital: built, cultural, financial and political. The significance of the other three forms of capital: human, natural and social and their implications in the context of MPCS facilities are discussed. Practical implications – If the existing and new MPCS facilities are to become a vital component of disaster management strategies, MPCS governance mechanisms are likely to be enhanced by embracing the principles of community-based facilities management. Originality/value – The paper introduces the utility of a multi-capitals framework to assess the existing management issues surrounding MPCS facilities and offers potential solutions in the context of developing countries. The value of the framework is in understanding the utility of an MPCS as more than just a facility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates long-term climate change adaptation strategies in the Netherlands and Bangladesh using the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Principles of Good Water Governance. Deltas face complex challenges, and adequate long-term planning is essential for these regions. However, experience with these long-term planning efforts and linkages with theoretical frameworks on water-related policy and strategy development remain limited. Both countries politically approved significant investment portfolios for a durable adaptive strategy. This paper highlights the similarities and differences in the resulting strategies. Using the learning assessment methodology, we propose to add risk-based approaches and long-term strategic perspectives as additional OECD Principles in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The links between climate change and sanitation are frequently overlooked in the WASH sector. This paper examines experiences of WaterAid in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, India, and Madagascar where there was some consideration of the impacts of climate change on sanitation. Climate resilience was often not considered explicitly, however, with work instead framed around weather-related threats that are now increasingly frequent and severe. In these case studies, sanitation and climate integration involved adapting on-site sanitation hardware to physical impacts on infrastructure, while some social aspects of climate resilience were also considered. Integration took place primarily at the project level, while climate change consideration seemed absent from wider planning and decision-making. Aside from these case studies, most of WaterAid's sanitation work does not seem to incorporate climate change. It is recommended that climate resilience is integrated into each stage of sanitation programming, with a more systematic consideration of its potential impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floods are a common natural hazard in Bangladesh, and climate change is expected to further increase flooding frequency, magnitude and extent. Pregnant women in flood contexts could face challenges in utilisation of maternal healthcare. The aim of this paper is to analyse associations between flood exposure and the use of maternal healthcare (antenatal care visits, birth assisted by skilled birth attendants, and giving birth in a health facility) in Bangladesh for pregnancies/births between 2004 and 2018. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey data from four surveys in the time period 2007–2018 and data on floods from the Emergency Events Database and the Geocoded Disasters Dataset are analysed using multilevel linear probability models. In line with previous results, we find clear bivariate associations between exposure to flooding and maternal healthcare use. These associations are largely confounded by socioeconomic and demographic variables. In general, exposure to flooding — whether measured as exposure to any floods or severe floods — does not affect maternal healthcare use, and we suggest that the lower usage of maternal healthcare in areas exposed to flooding rather relates to the characteristics of the flood-prone areas and their populations, which also relate to lower maternal healthcare use. However, we find negative associations in some supplementary analyses, which suggest that even if there is no effect of floods on average, specific floods may have negative effects on maternal healthcare use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the determinants of sustainable soil management (SSM) practices among Bangladeshi paddy farmers. Relevant information from 2681 paddy farmers was extracted from the nationally representative Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS 2018–2019) dataset. Four SSM practices were commonly practiced with 37.04% of the sampled farmers adopting at least one SSM practice. 'Use of organic fertilizer' was the most common practice, whereas the other three, viz. 'zero-tillage', 'incorporate paddy residue', and 'legume cultivation' were less practiced by the farmers. Econometric analysis revealed that differences in the farmers' socio-economic conditions, environmental and institutional settings were the main drivers of the SMM practice decisions. Climatic factors were critical in shaping the farmers' decision to adopt SSM practices. Education, access to information and extension services increased the adoption probability of SSM practices. Improved infrastructure and being located within the economically vulnerable areas (e.g., Feed the Future zone) influenced the farmers' adoption decision, but the magnitude and direction varied depending on the individual circumstances. The farmers' socio-economic conditions, e.g., assets and farm size, also had a notable influence on the adoption of SSM practices. Policy implications include strengthening extension services, incorporation of climatic information in education and dissemination of information on SSM practices, particularly to farmers living in vulnerable areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change adaptation is currently an important community concern in developing countries like Bangladesh. The conceptualization of adaptation within the government system matters for the promotion of activities such as employment generation for local communities. The lesser the gap between government policy and the local community's needs for adaptation the more effective outcomes are for ensuring policy success and promoting sustainable community livelihoods or vice versa. This interface between policy and community is important for climate change adaptation which is explored in this paper along with the findings of the research project, DEltas, vulnerability and climate change: Migration and Adaptation (DECCMA) conducted during 2014–2018 in Bangladesh, Ghana, India, and the United Kingdom. The data from Bangladesh was collected from 1384 survey respondents, 19 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), 3 workshops, and 43 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs). The findings of the paper show that government adaptation activities mainly reflect the Reactive Approach of Limited Action (RALA) perspective rather than the Proactive Approach To Adaptation (PATA). The RALA perspective is characterized by piecemeal and top-down approaches to adaptation which fail to recognize a community conceptualization of climate change, policy perspectives for coping with local concerns, and governance approaches for effective adaptation. In response, the government needs to focus on the PATA in policy, programs, and projects with the governance approach implemented from the bottom-up or, in other words, from the local perspective. Community participation in decision-making processes is characteristic of this bottom-up governance model. Local community participation, consultation, and representation are essential parts of PATA in adaptation policy formulation and execution, providing important lessons for Bangladesh. • Adaptation to climate change is a high policy priority for developing countries such as Bangladesh. • The conceptualization of adaptation in government policy matters for community sustainability. • The top-down, centralised Reactive Approach of Limited Action (RALA) causes further concern for effective adaptation policy. • A Proactive Approach to Adaptation (PATA) is better for community sustainability. • Community participation and representation within governance approaches can expedite a PATA approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-based adaptation (CBA) has gained traction in the management of climate risks within developing societies, due to its capacity to include local knowledge and build the adaptive capacities of vulnerable groups and communities. Yet little is known about what happens when such projects are implemented on the ground. This paper presents the results of a research project that sought to understand local perceptions and responses to planned CBA interventions in rural coastal communities in Bangladesh. Based on a qualitative approach, this paper presents the dominant narratives within local communities about the NGO-initiated CBA project. Findings highlight there is a deep disconnection between the objectives of CBA interventions and the perceptions of local communities about the project. Such a difference in perceptions meant that project participants prioritized personal gains over the creation of collective capacities to adapt to climate change. The paper concludes that in order to resolve such tensions, the gap between 'community-based' adaptation theory and practice needs to be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deltas are experiencing profound demographic, economic and land use changes and human-induced catchment and climate change. Bangladesh exemplifies these difficulties through multiple climate risks including subsidence/sea-level rise, temperature rise, and changing precipitation patterns, as well as changing management of the Ganges and Brahmaputra catchments. There is a growing population and economy driving numerous more local changes, while dense rural population and poverty remain significant. Identifying appropriate policy and planning responses is extremely difficult in these circumstances. This paper adopts a participatory scenario development process incorporating both socio-economic and biophysical elements across multiple scales and sectors as part of an integrated assessment of ecosystem services and livelihoods in coastal Bangladesh. Rather than simply downscale global perspectives, the analysis was driven by a large and diverse stakeholder group who met with the researchers over four years as the assessment was designed, implemented and applied. There were four main stages: (A) establish meta-framework for the analysis; (B) develop qualitative scenarios of key trends; (C) translate these scenarios into quantitative form for the integrated assessment model analysis; and (D) a review of the model results, which raises new stakeholder insights (e.g., preferred adaptation and policy responses) and questions. Step D can be repeated leading to an iterative learning loop cycle, and the process can potentially be ongoing. The strong and structured process of stakeholder engagement gave strong local ownership of the scenarios and the wider process. This process can be generalised for widespread application across socio-ecological systems following the same four-stage approach. It demands sustained engagement with stakeholders and hence needs to be linked to a long-term research process. However, it facilitates a more credible foundation for planning especially where there are multiple interacting factors., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This paper studies the impact of climate change on the nutritional status of very young children between the ages of 0-3 years by using weather data from the last half century merged with rich information on child, mother, and household characteristics in rural coastal Bangladesh. We evaluate the health consequences of rising temperature and relative humidity and varying rainfall jointly employing alternate functional forms. Leveraging models that control for annual trends and location-specific seasonality, and that allow the impacts of temperature to vary non-parametrically while rainfall and humidity have flexible non-linear forms, we find that temperatures that exceed 25 °C (the "comfortable" benchmark) in the month of birth exert negative effects on children's nutritional status as measured by mid upper arm circumference. Humidity has a positive impact which persists when child, mother and household controls are included. We find that exposure to changing climate in utero also matters. Explanations for these results include consequences of weather fluctuations on the extent of pasture, cropland, and rainfed lands planted with rice and other crops, and on mother's age at first marriage. Our results underline that climate change has real consequences for the health of very young populations in vulnerable areas., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Adaptation is an essential part of climate change policy. In areas where impacts are likely to be severe, migration is considered to be an adaptation option. In Bangladesh coastal areas migration due to climate change is contingent on people's freedom of choice at individual and household level. Following Amartya Sen's capability approach, we argue that there should be a line drawn between migrations by free choice versus forced migration. Sen's capability approach focuses on the importance of people's freedom of choice to act, and the ability to achieve what they consider valuable in their life. In this paper, we use an extensive empirical work engaging 22 focus groups discussions (8–12 individuals in each group) and 14 Key Informants Interviews in South-West Bangladesh to elicit how freedom of choice changes with the economic class and social status of an individual. Using these data we apply Sen's capability approach to understand the role of the freedom of choice when considering migration as an adaptation option. We argue that the capability approach is essential in revealing a thin border between migration as a (planned) adaptation option and forced migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of growing research and policy interest are the experiences of people living under conditions of climate change–induced environmental stress, which either are unable to migrate (sometimes described as a 'trapped population') or are seemingly unwilling to do so (sometimes described as the 'voluntarily immobile'). This paper problematises and expands upon these binary categories: examining the complex dimensionality of non-migration as a form of place relations, explored through qualitative study of rural and coastal Bangladeshi communities. Through 60 semi-structured interviews of individuals from four communities in the Kalapara region, the analysis proffers four qualitatively derived and inter-related dimensions of voluntary and involuntary non-migration framed as a form of place relations. These four dimensions concern the following: (1) livelihood opportunities, (2) place obduracy, (3) risk perceptions, and (4) social-structural constraints, with the interplay between these elements explaining diverse non-migratory experiences. In our analysis, 'place obduracy' is introduced as a concept to describe the differential speed of environmental change and socio-cultural adaptation responses to explain non-migratory experiences. Our discussion provides insight into how to best support non-migrant people's adaptive capacity in the face of growing climate emergency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper interrogates how the social networks and the networking of migrants, and through that their migration trajectories, are being shaped by mobile technologies. I examine this through the case of environmentally-related migration in Bangladesh. This case, and the issue of environmentally-related migration more generally, provides new insights as it has a different context to most of the cases thus far examined to study the implications of ICTs on migration. In contrast to those studies, it is about internal movement. Such movement is highly dynamic with people frequently visiting places of origin or even trying to move back, and with travel routes being relatively safe and well known. It is less about smart phones and social media, as many of the most affected only have access to a mobile phone without internet. In that context, this paper shows that the use of mobile technologies does not necessarily lead to a drastic shift of social network structure towards the proliferation of weak ties. Rather, in this case, the impact is on how (often existing) ties that are geographically dispersed are utilised to enable mobility in a more coordinated manner, making mobility decisions more reflected on and to an extent less risky. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper conceptualises the process of voluntary relocation undertaken by rural farmers to informal settlements in coastal cities. These are journeys that occur without formal institutional support, utilising migrants' own agency. Learning from these community‐driven relocations has merit in rethinking climate change adaptation at the regional level. In this paper we present stories of 17 families who have progressively relocated to the fringes of Khulna city in southwestern Bangladesh. We observe three key attributes: first, relocations are slow, neither singular nor immediately completed, but rather take months of careful back and forth journeys of family members between their places of origin and destination. Second, relocations rely on small networks of relatives and acquaintances at the destination. Third, relocations are built on shared responsibilities distributed among a range of actors in places of origin and destination. We conclude that these slow, small and shared relocations are likely to be realised as forms of ongoing adaptation by rural farmers if their aspirational mobilities, social relations and supports are maintained at a regional scale. This kind of migration as adaptation may bring about just outcomes for those displaced without necessarily promoting rigid planning interventions that tend to fix resettlement solutions in place and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the relationships between conflict, climate change, and disaster in forced displacement contexts. We present these nexus dynamics through the case of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh who are exposed to climatic hazards and other vulnerabilities that threaten their lives and livelihoods. Having fled persecution by the Myanmar military, Rohingya refugees face a range of conflict- and climate-related risks, both in the overcrowded and disaster-prone camps in Cox's Bazar and on the island of Bhasan Char where Bangladeshi authorities have relocated tens of thousands of people. The protracted refugee crisis has exacerbated social tensions between the Rohingya and host communities; limited access to resources and exposure to significant hazards that exacerbate conflict-induced displacement challenges. This paper contributes to the nascent literature on the region's conflict, climate change, and disaster displacement nexus by examining how cascading risks and state fragility contribute to increased instability. The article demonstrates the need for a more nuanced understanding of how conflict-induced displacement leads to new threats and vulnerabilities in hazard-prone environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is increasingly affecting vulnerable groups and resulting in dire social and economic consequences, especially for those in the Global South. Managing current and emerging climate-related risks will require increasing individual's and communities' resilience, including enhancing absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacities. Policymakers are now considering the role that social protection policies and programmes can play in building climate resilience by contributing to these capacities. However, there is a limited understanding of the extent to which social protection instruments can influence these three resilience-related capacities. Lack of assessment tools or frameworks might contribute to limited evidence of social protection's ability to increase climate resilience. In particular, there appear to be no frameworks or tools that help assess the role of social cash transfers (SCT) in building adaptive capacity. Based on a multi-staged literature review, we develop an adaptive capacity outcomes framework (ACOF) that can help assess SCT's contribution to building adaptive capacity, and, consequently, resilience. The framework is then tested using impact evaluation and assessment reports from SCT programmes in Indonesia, Zambia, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Tanzania. The exercise finds that SCTs alone have a limited contribution to adaptive capacity outcomes, but interventions that combine cash transfers with other components such as nutrition or livelihood training show positive impacts. We find that the ACOF can support assessments of SCT's contribution towards adaptive capacity. It can help build evidence, evaluate impacts, and through further research, can facilitate learning on SCTs' role in increasing climate resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific research has revealed that global warming is getting irreversible with the passage of time and it is largely a human-induced phenomenon. India is one of the top three emitters of carbon dioxide in the world. However, the general public in India is unaware of what actually causes anthropogenic (human-induced) climate change. This study is undertaken to assess the level of climate change awareness and willingness to adopt mitigation actions by the students (N = 657) of higher education in Tripura, a small state in North East India, bordering Bangladesh on three sides. In addition, the study also attempts to draw whether there exist any correlations between the level of media usage with the level of climate change awareness and the level of climate change awareness with the level of willingness to adopt climate change mitigation actions. The results show that students of higher education in Tripura have a high level of climate change awareness, and the primary sources for climate change-related information are the Internet, TV, and newspapers. The scientists were the most trusted sources of climate change-related information followed by the mass media. The findings also establish that the students are willing to adopt climate change mitigation actions, even if it costs them something extra. The students who are willing (7.6%) and extremely willing (65.4%) to embrace climate change mitigation actions constituted more than 70% of the total respondents of the survey. The paper concludes that the level of willingness to adopt climate change mitigation actions was found to be significantly correlated with the level of awareness of the consequences of climate change when media are key actors in the dissemination of information; however, the level of understanding about solutions for climate change is not correlated with the level of awareness about the causes of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In settings where complex social decisions are made, information is often aggregated into indices to facilitate decision making. The value added of such composite indices depends, inter alia, on the extent to which decision makers trust and make use of them. This paper presents a randomized experiment on the use of an index designed to inform migrant resettlement decisions, using 410 graduate students in Bangladesh as respondents. Respondents were randomly assigned to control and treatment conditions. In the control group, respondents faced a discrete choice experiment where they were asked to allocate 1000 migrants between two locations described by five attributes (availability of cropland, distance to hospital, distance to school, poverty incidence, frequency of floods, droughts and cyclones). In the treatment group, respondents also had access to the migrant resettlement index for the two locations. Results show that the resettlement index is used by the respondents, and mechanism analyses suggest this is due to perceptions of improved benefits to costs from using the index to make decisions. Results from the control group also suggest that past adverse environmental events are particularly important for resettlement decisions, but less so for respondents who grew up in areas where such events were frequent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal agriculture and livelihoods worldwide are highly vulnerable to changing climates, and Bangladesh is no exception due to its geophysical location. This paper examines rice farmers' vulnerability, adaptation strategies, and adaptation barriers to managing climate change impacts in the coastal region of Bangladesh. Survey data were collected from 220 randomly selected rice farmers located across two coastal districts of Bangladesh. A multinomial logit model was applied to analyze determinants of adaptation strategies of rice farmers. The results reveal that flood is the main risk to vulnerability, followed by cyclones and storms surges and saline intrusion. The main adaptation strategies are cultivating flood and salinity tolerant rice varieties, direct seeding of rice, supplementary irrigation, cultivation of non-rice crops that have shorter growth duration, and rearing of livestock, poultry, and duck. The econometric analysis shows that factors such as household head's education, household income, farm size, access to information, and extension services significantly influence the choice of adaptation strategies of the rice farmers. We recommend to increase investment in research, training of farmers, and targeted extension services to disseminate climate-smart technologies and information for minimising vulnerability of the farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate change adversities have particularly sparked the urgency in mitigating carbon dioxide emissions across the world. Against this backdrop, the paper attempts to investigate the validity of the carbon dioxide emission-induced Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis controlling for the impacts of export quality on the economic growth-carbon dioxide emission nexus in the context of selected South Asian economies: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Using annual data from 1972 to 2014, the results from the panel data econometric analyses provide statistical validity to the EKC hypothesis while the country-specific results depict heterogeneity of the findings in this regard. The EKC hypothesis is validated only for Bangladesh and India while in the context of Pakistan the economic growth-carbon dioxide emission nexus portrays a U-shaped association. In contrast, economic growth is found to monotonically decrease carbon dioxide emissions in Sri Lanka and Nepal. Besides, the results from both the panel and time-series analyses suggest that improvement in export quality lead to lower levels of carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, the statistical significance of the interaction term between economic growth and export quality implies that the overall impacts of economic growth on carbon dioxide emissions are conditional on the quality of the exports. Thus, enhancing the quality of the export products is pertinent with respect to ensuring environmental sustainability across South Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Battling against climate change, "a common concern of humankind," is the most prominent global challenge of this century, and Environmentally Sound Technologies ("ESTs") are the main tools to fight this battle. This article examines the juxtaposed role of Intellectual Property Rights ("IPRs") and competition laws in facilitating wide-scale innovation and transfer of ESTs in developing and least developed countries. This article covers diverse IPRs, including patents and trade secrets. The discussion and analysis of the IPRs are based on the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ("TRIPS"). And the discussion on competition law mainly focuses on competition related regulation of the European Union (EU). The article concludes with an examination of whether the current state of relevant national IPRs and competition laws can facilitate the transfer of ESTs in Bangladesh, which is considered to be one of the most climate change affected countries in the world. The article finds that the adoption of a suitable IPR regime can facilitate innovation and transfer of ESTs to developing and least developed countries. However, some countries can facilitate innovation and transfer of ESTs by using TRIPS' flexibilities like compulsory licensing. Competition laws can also facilitate innovation and transfer of ESTs through expanding EST markets by preventing abuse of IPRs, for which countries' competition laws should include guidelines. Finally, the article finds that the current relevant IPRs and competition related laws of Bangladesh are not suitable enough for creating a favorable environment for innovation and transfer of ESTs. Hence, this paper recommends amending these domestic laws in light of TRIPS and on the basis of national interests of Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the unintended prospect of international aid-driven maladaptation in Bangladesh. While attempts by aid agencies to channel scarce resources to finance structural adaptation measures are commendable, complementary non-structural measures remain under the radar. Using an exploratory research approach this paper investigates the state of cyclone shelters in two coastal districts: Chittagong and Cox's Bazar. The findings indicate that the lack of adequate shelter capacity, maintenance funding, and community participation has exacerbated the vulnerability of Chittagong's marginalised urban population. The paper contends that international aid can avoid being maladaptive by accentuating community-based governance and facilitating community capacity to fund the maintenance of cyclone shelters in new ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between “coping” and “resilience” increasingly features in academic, policy and practical discussions on adaptation to climate change in urban areas. This paper examines this relationship in the context of households in “extreme poverty” in the city of Khulna, Bangladesh. It draws on a quantitative data set based on 550 household interviews in low-income and informal settlements that identified the extent of the underlying drivers of vulnerability in this setting, including very low income, inadequate shelter, poor nutritional status and limited physical assets. A series of focus groups were used to explore the ways in which physical hazards have interacted with this underlying vulnerability, as a means to understand the potential impacts of climate change on this particular group of urban residents. These outcomes include frequent water-logging, the destruction of houses and disruption to the provision of basic services. The main focus of the paper is on describing the practices of low-income urban residents in responding to climate-related shocks and stresses, placing these in a particular political context, and drawing lessons for urban policies in Bangladesh and elsewhere. A wide range of specific adaptation-related activities can be identified, which can be grouped into three main categories – individual, communal and institutional. The paper examines the extent to which institutional actions are merely “coping” – or whether they create the conditions in which individuals and households can strengthen their own long-term resilience. Similarly, it examines the extent to which individual and communal responses are merely “coping” – or whether they have the potential to generate broader political change that strengthens the position of marginalized groups in the city. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction: Out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for healthcare severely affect the current consumption, future health and earnings capacity of poor/underprivileged households and hence it is crucial for priority setting. This study assesses the variation in overall as well as disease-specific impoverishment impact of OOP payments between the regions experiencing different climate change risks, defined as high disaster-prone (HDP) areas and low-disaster-prone (LDP) areas, in Bangladesh., Materials and Methods: This paper estimated three poverty measures, such as poverty headcount, poverty intensity and normalized poverty gap for all ailments, catastrophic events, diseases types (communicable, non-communicable (NCDs), and accident and injury), illness conditions (acute and chronic) and hospitalization using 3,791 randomly selected rural households (1,203 from HDP and 2,588 from LDP areas) across the regions. Cost of basic need approach was used for estimating poverty line expenditure., Results: About 13 percent households annually fall into poverty due to OOP outlays for healthcare. Despite having significantly (p-value≤0.01) less OOP payments (HDP areas: BDT 5,117; LDP areas: BDT5,811) the impoverishment impact of OOP payments for healthcare in HDP areas (16.5%) has substantially higher than LDP areas (11.3%). Population in HDP areas, especially char (river island; 19.55 percent) and haor (water submerged; 16.80 percent) are more susceptible to any level of OOP payments due to low level of earnings. Catastrophic healthcare expenditure (61.79%) and NCDs (14.29 percent) are exacerbating the poverty level in Bangladesh. Both absolute and relative average poverty gap are more widen in HDP than LDP areas due to catastrophic OOP outlays for healthcare., Conclusion: The impoverishment effect due to OOP payments for healthcare in both HDP and LDP areas are high, especially for NCDs and catastrophic healthcare expenditure. However, the situation is bit worse in HDP areas. Preventing the escalation of NCDs as well as catastrophic expenditure and hence reducing the level of impoverishment thereof call for restricting tobacco use, increasing physical activity, encouraging to intake healthy diets, ensuring food safety, controlling air pollution, and improving mental health. Moreover, government should give more emphasis, especially in the HDP areas, on making community clinics more functional through providing screening equipment and training to the Community Health Care Providers for early detection of NCDs, and ensuring availability of medicine all the time. Note that other than community clinics, there is little option for providing healthcare in HDP areas due to poor functionality of public facilities as well as lack of private facilities in HDP areas., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.