Mainstreaming climate change adaptation into development in Bangladesh

Abstract

The close linkages between climate change adaptation and development have led to calls for addressing the two issues in an integrated way. 'Mainstreaming' climate information, policies and measures into ongoing development planning and decision-making has been proposed as one solution, making a more sustainable, effective and efficient use of resources than designing and managing climate policies separately from ongoing activities. But what does mainstreaming look like in practice? This paper reviews the process of mainstreaming in Bangladesh, one of the countries that has made significant progress on adaptation planning and mainstreaming. The paper begins by making the case for mainstreaming, by exploring linkages and trade-offs between adaptation and development and reviewing the literature on mainstreaming. Second, it considers how to implement mainstreaming in practice, reviewing an existing four-step framework. Examining this framework against the plethora of mainstreaming experiences in Bangladesh, the paper considers how the framework can be used as a tool to review progress on mainstreaming in Bangladesh. The paper concludes that while the framework is useful for considering some of the preconditions necessary for mainstreaming, experiences in Bangladesh reflect a much more complex patchwork of processes and stakeholders that need to be taken into consideration in further research.

Identifying Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation Efforts for Children into the West Java Development Planning

“…Hence, the BPLHD staff have a good understanding on the climate change issues. It is a substantial ability for the government institutions to take a key role in leading the climate change response (Ayers, Huq, Wright, Faisal, & Hussain, 2014;Brown, Nkem, Sonwa, & Bele, 2010;Siña et al, 2016). In addition, BPLHD also integrates the climate change adaptation into their supervisory framework, policies, strategies, and programs.…”

“…Therefore, the supervisory framework, policies, strategies, and program components have been fulfilled by DINKES. Those components are an important instrument for doing effective adaptation and building resilience (Alhassan & Hadwen, 2017;Ayers et al, 2014;Fankhauser, Smith, & Tol, 1999).…”

Examining the challenges in mainstreaming climate change adaptation into local land-use planning: The case of Albay, Philippines

“…Hence, development and adaptation are acknowledged as mutually dependent strategies, and efforts to streamline climate-related concerns into the development-planning and decision-making processes are emerging (Ayers et al 2014;Noble et al 2014). Along with this is the change in the focus of CCA planning from impact, vulnerability, or risk assessments to adjusting the direction in development planning (Olhoff & Schaer 2010;Schipper et al 2010).…”

“…It is a proactive, long-term adaptation planning measure that addresses the origins of vulnerability, deals with issues of adaptive capacity, and most importantly, is a primary prerequisite for sustainability (Agrawala 2006;Parry et al 2007). As such, developing countries, which typically have low adaptive capacity and are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, are encouraged to apply CCA mainstreaming (Mertz et al 2009;Ayers et al 2014;IPCC 2014a).…”

“…Consequently, information is lacking on how to transcend from planning to the implementation of mainstreaming, identify the challenges in operationalising the approach, and assess the progress and setbacks of mainstreaming efforts (Persson & Klein 2008;Measham et al 2011;Ayers et al 2014). …”