Bangladesh, a country with a size of 147,570 km 2 , has the largest delta in the world with one-third of the country residing a costal shoreline. The livelihood of the inhabitants is exposed to a series of tribulations causing radical setbacks, of which natural disasters like tropical cyclones bring large-scale salinity intrusion. Occurring due to three main causal factors including climate change, sedimentation, and low water flow, salinity poses challenges in agriculture and overall food security, hence impeding the health and livelihood of marginalized women, children, and elderly and explicably the overall vulnerable population at large. Against that backdrop, this chapter will delineate three broad spectra of Bangladesh's approach to "living with salt": (1) the assessment of salt intrusion in water and soil in Bangladesh's coastal zones due to climate change, (2) understanding the vulnerabilities to salinity within marginalized population, and (3) coping or adapting strategies to combat and live with salt. The chapter also includes the findings of a recent case study conducted on Bangladesh coastal zone to demonstrate the current livelihood conditions under salinity, conditions of the actions taken by the government and nongovernment organizations, gaps, and recommendations for a more resilient coastal community.
Changes in the climate due to anthropogenic and natural variation are indicated by parameters including temperature and rainfall. Climate change variability with changing trends of the two have been unpredictable and unprecedented globally leading to changing weather patterns, natural disasters, leading to sectoral impacts on food and water security, livelihood, human health among others. This research analyses the changing patterns of these parameters over the last 35/37 years of Satkhira district of Bangladesh to assess the state and trend across spatial and temporal dimensions. Such, the study validates to rationalize the observed seasonal changes that persist in Satkhira of Bangladesh. Both in terms of intensity and frequency of the occurrences of natural disasters, the series of natural events have been triangulated, with impacts and vulnerability being assessed from temperature variations, erratic rainfall, cyclone, flood and water logging etc. The study’s prime contribution remains in attribution of climate change in relation contextual circumstances in the region including sea level rise, salinity intrusion. Therefore, the risk and climatic hazards and its resulting impacts over time has been assessed to draw deeper connection between theoretical and practical values. The series of analyses also draw conclusion that assets are at risk from changing climatic condition.
Climate-induced hazards are adversely affecting the pond ecosystems in Bangladesh. Most of the poor communities collect water from isolated ponds for drinking and other domestic needs. This paper explores how the small pond ecosystems and associated livelihoods of the coastal communities are vulnerable and argues that the pond ecosystem can be a potential resource base for community based adaptation in the coastal regions of Bangladesh. A set of quantitative and qualitative tools were applied to 309 households across five villages. The study showed that 96% of the respondents are dependent on pond water for drinking. More than 50% households expressed that temperature, rainfall variations and salinity intrusion, directly and indirectly, affect the pond water. Physical parameter values of temperature, pH and salinity from the ponds showed changes across different seasons. Drinking water scarcity during pre-monsoon (March–May), winter (Dec–Feb), disaster and immediate post-disaster period among the communities is high. Salinity intrusion and surface runoff caused by excessive rainfall in short periods also cause deterioration in the quality of pond water. However, successful examples of pond water usage emerged through the discussions, especially during a post-disaster crisis, which strengthens the idea that ponds could be a resource base for community-based adaptation in the coast of Bangladesh.
Beginning as an afterthought in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, adaptation as an agenda has come a long way since 1992. With no ambitious mitigation, recent years have witnessed an increasing frequency of extreme climate events, including cross-border or borderless climate risks. Accordingly, the Paris Agreement frames adaptation as a global goal and global responsibility. However, financing for adaptation continues to remain extremely poor, relative to the estimated needs, even though the regime has obligatory provisions for support by developed countries. Why is this so? Why should the majority of the countries, with an insignificant contribution to causing the problem, suffer from increasing climate impacts? How can adaptation finance be enhanced at scale? As a response to these queries, the paper substantiates three claims: (1) that poor funding can be attributed to the territorial framing under the regime that conceptualizes adaptation largely as a local or national public good and, hence, the inefficacy of market mechanisms, (2) that it makes conceptual and political sense to consider adaptation as a global public good, and (3) that such a reframing should make a difference in boosting adaptation finance. In a multi-polar world with different views on adaptation finance, multilateral agencies should lead in promoting the proposed framing.
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