Experiencing Climate Change in Bangladesh

Vulnerability and Adaptation in Coastal Regions

Salim Momtaz,Masud Shameem

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780128034224
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Global Development Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Experiencing Climate Change in Bangladesh: Vulnerability and Adaptation in Coastal Regions provides a conceptual and empirical framework for understanding the vulnerability of coastal communities in Bangladesh to multiple stressors and presents the process by which rural households adapt their livelihoods.

The livelihoods of the poor people in many developing countries are disproportionately vulnerable to multiple shocks and stresses. The effects of climate change interacting with these livelihood disturbances further amplify human vulnerability. Future climate change is likely to aggravate this precarious situation.

This book offers a solid framework for analyzing the process and components of adaptation of rural livelihoods to a changing hydro-climatic environment and presents empirical evidence of livelihood adaptation at the local level.

The book creates a knowledge-base for the small island developing states (SIDS) experiencing similar socio-economic and climatic conditions. Also fills a market need by providing a conceptual framework, case studies, and reflections on lessons learned from policy responses for vulnerability reduction and adaptation to climate variability, extremes, and change.

• Presents an analyses-based adaptation to climate change in a holistic way that takes into account social, economic, and environmental stressors and their interrelationships
• Examines synergy between disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, and social protection in the context of Bangladesh
• Provides examples of successes and failures in climate change adaptation invaluable for developing countries in similar situations
• Fills a market need by providing a conceptual framework, case studies, and reflections on lessons learned from policy responses

Chapter 1

Introduction

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the book to the reader. It creates the context of the book by introducing Bangladesh as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. It identifies the knowledge gap as being the absence of analytical approaches that systematically examine processes of adaptation. This chapter then introduces the five major questions this book is intending to address. Finally, it provides brief summaries of other chapters.

Keywords

Adaptation strategies; Bangladesh; Climate change; Natural disasters; Sustainable Livelihood Approach

Contents

1.1 Problem Statement 1

1.2 Investigative Questions 3

1.3 Layout of the Book 4

References 5

1.1. Problem Statement

Bangladesh is widely regarded as one of the most vulnerable countries of the world to climate hazards (MOEF, 2009). The climatic vulnerability of the country can be attributed, in part, to the country’s geographic position and its geomorphic conditions—both of which have made the country susceptible to river and rainwater flooding, tropical cyclones accompanied by storm surge, tornados, nor’westers, drought, and river bank and coastal erosion (Ali, 1996). The country is less than five metres above sea level, and about one-fourth of the country is flooded in an average year (MOEF, 2009). Bangladesh faced seven major floods between 1984 and 2012, and in 1998 nearly 68% of the country was inundated, affecting 30 million people, causing deaths to 1100 people, and incurring economic losses estimated to be US $2.8 billion (Bangladeshi Taka 135 billion) (MOEF, 2009).

The vulnerability arising from the hydro-climatic hazards is diverse in different parts of the country, and the community’s ability to respond to these disturbances is highly variable. In Bangladesh, the coastal areas are considered as a zone of multiple vulnerabilities, exposed to climate extremes, viz. tropical cyclone, storm surge, and coastal flood. In the past two decades, of about 250,000 worldwide deaths associated with tropical cyclones, 60% occurred on the Bangladesh coast (ISDR, 2004). The coastal communities, especially those in the southwest region, are among the most vulnerable in the country, mostly due to their frequent exposure to tropical cyclones, with tidal surge and hydro-climatically driven changes in the environment and natural resource base on which they depend for their livelihoods and well-being. The southwest coastal region, therefore, presents a unique opportunity to explore how rural households and farmers who are faced with hydro-climatic risks manage their economic production systems and livelihoods.

Although social–ecological systems have evolved over the centuries through coping with, and adapting to, stresses and shocks, today increased pressure mainly associated with climate and environmental change poses a threat to coastal communities to manage their resources and livelihoods (UNEP, 2006; Parry et al., 2007). Adaptation to climate change, therefore, has emerged as a necessity for addressing the impacts of climate change on social well-being and the environment (Locatelli et al., 2008; Sonwa et al., 2010). In the rural livelihood–vulnerability context, individuals or households, when faced with climate risks, develop a suite of livelihood strategies over time, depending on their available assets, in pursuance of reducing their vulnerability and enhancing their livelihood resilience to climate shocks. Although successful livelihood adaptation contributes to an increasing well-being and livelihood security, maladaptation or failure in adaptation can result in persistent poverty (Tschakert and Dietrich, 2010). This realization of the importance of adaptation has promoted climate change adaptation research to the forefront of scientific inquiry and policy negotiations (Tschakert and Dietrich, 2010).

Policy response is an important institutional and governmental mechanism that strengthens adaptive capacity and expands adaptation options, as it may have a similar constraining effect (Smit et al., 2001; Urwin and Jordan, 2008). To support local responses to manage climate risks, Bangladesh has made significant progress in terms of policy development, institutional change, funding mechanisms, and implementation of a number of structural and nonstructural interventions. There are also an increasing number of community-based adaptation programs, mostly being carried out by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) on rural livelihood adaptation to hydro-climatic extreme events such as floods, cyclones, and storm surges (IDS, 2011). In these circumstances, it is important to build up the evidence of adaptations that are taking place on the ground and to identify the processes of effective adaptation that enhance livelihood resilience, promote legitimate institutional change, and support synergy with other goals of sustainable development (Robinson et al., 2006; Osbahr et a1., 2008).

The vulnerability and low adaptive capacity of Bangladesh has attracted significant local and international interest in conducting research on climate change adaptation in the country. However, the predominant approach in adaptation research is either descriptive (for example, listing the elements of adaptive capacity that influence adaptation) or normative (wish lists of policy entry points), rather than analytical approaches that systematically examine the processes of adaptation (Berkhout et al., 2004; Berrang-Ford et al., 2011).

Drawing on the body of literature on climate change adaptation published in the journal Climatic Change between 1977 and 2010, Arnell (2010) proposes that future research on climate change adaptation should be focused on local contexts and address, and so forth, the process by which adaptations to climate change occur. Arnell further proposes that the model of adaptation should be constructed by taking account of local circumstances, encompassing geophysical characteristics, governance and management practices, and institutional context, all of which significantly affect the actual decision-making processes relating to adaptation.

The research agendum for future adaptation research proposed by Arnell (2010) runs parallel with the observation made in an adaptation-related chapter of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR4) (Adger et al., 2007, p. 737). The report concludes that there are significant knowledge gaps in understanding the processes by which adaptation is taking place and in identifying the areas for leverage and action by government.

1.2. Investigative Questions

To address the research problem, as stated above, this study aims to empirically explore the processes that facilitate adaptation to climate variability and change within the livelihood-vulnerability context of rural households in the coastal areas of Bangladesh. The study investigates the important livelihood assets and relevant institutional and policy contexts that provide rural households with the capacity to adapt their livelihood systems to climate variability and change. It explores the question of communities’ perceptions of climate change, as a precondition for making a decision to adapt, and identifies actual adaptive responses by households (adaptations) in relation to these individuals’ perceptions of climate change. In particular, this research intends to answer the following five specific research questions:

1. What are the key features of the livelihoods of the households that result in the ability of the households to cope with, and adapt to, climate variability and change?

2. What are the perceptions of the local communities about historic hydro-climatic variations, changes and extreme climate events, and their corresponding impacts on different livelihood assets, activities, and outcomes?

3. What are the climate-related risks, uncertainties, and opportunities that are perceived by local people as affecting their livelihoods?

4. What are the coping and adaptation strategies that people undertake to maintain resilient livelihoods in the face of climate variability and change?

5. In what ways do different institutions, agencies and policies influence livelihood adaptation to climate change disturbances in the coastal areas?

1.3. Layout of the Book

Chapter 2 reviews the concepts associated with adaptation to climate change, and provides an overview of adaptation models based on a cognitive perspective to explain the process of adaptation at an individual level. It discusses the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA), and, by combining insights from the Socio-cognitive Model of Adaptation with SLA, a conceptual framework for livelihood adaptation to climate change is adopted and used to guide the research. This conceptual framework illustrates the key features of the livelihood adaptation process of rural households in response to changes in the climatic characteristics.

Chapter 3 presents the research design, data collection, and analysis. It explains the rationale for the mixed study design adopted for the study. The chapter also describes the procedures for selecting a case study to apply the research methodology to investigate the adaptation process in the coastal area facing the effects of climate-related events.

Chapter 4 begins by presenting an overview of the physical setting, socio-economic conditions, and hydro-climatic hazards of the coastal areas of Bangladesh that form the large-scale context in which households develop their livelihood strategies to adapt to climate hazards. It also presents background information about the relevant climate features and discusses the potential changes in the climate regime that has emerged from recent studies. The second part of this chapter serves as an introduction to the case study...