Multistakeholder collaboration for urban climate change resilience in Bangladesh

"Improved multistakeholder collaboration in the water and sanitation sector can contribute towards building greater urban climate resilience in Dhaka City. However, the challenge is to ensure all stakeholders come forward to improve the present situation of service provision and find effective means of collaboration. At present, informal settlements in Dhaka lack basic services and infrastructure, and are becoming home to more and more rural migrants. While a number of NGOs and government agencies are addressing the water and sanitation deficit, climate change resilience is not always being considered when implementing these initiatives. Current processes of stakeholder collaboration are still limited. This briefing provides an overview of existing initiatives and collaborations in improving water and sanitation infrastructure, and recommends approaches to improving multistakeholder collaboration in addressing the water and sanitation needs and resilience of low-income settlements in Dhaka.

Building climate resilience to Noapara town: a coastal urban centre of Bangladesh

"This paper attempts to identify ways of making the town of Noapara, a coastal urban centre in the Jessore district in Bangladesh, resilient to the impacts of climate change, with specific focus on the water and sanitation sectors. Climatic events can trigger migration from hazard-prone areas to large cities. But if sufficient livelihood opportunities are available, improved resilience of towns or urban centres close to major cities may play a role in diverting migrants from the large cities. The situation in Naopara was investigated to see what investments would need to be made in the town to make it an attractive option for migrants. The findings indicate that Naopara lacks access to basic services such as safe water and sanitation, with only one percent of households being covered by the municipal water supply. The rest are dependent on hand tube wells and other sources. In particular, poor communities lack access to safe water because they do not have their own land, or the economic capacity to afford a tube well. Additionally, the lack of proper drainage systems, adequate sanitation facilities and waste management facilities increases the vulnerability of those communities during hazards. Climate change-induced hazards such as intense rainfall, cyclones, flooding and salinity intrusion are expected to exacerbate this. In order to address these limitations, the appropriate institutional support from the government, and collaboration among stakeholders, including public-private partnerships and community-based organisations, can play a key role. The preparation and implementation of a city resilience plan could eventually attract displaced people to smaller towns such as Naopara.

Multistakeholder collaboration for urban climate change resilience in Bangladesh

"Improved multistakeholder collaboration in the water and sanitation sector can contribute towards building greater urban climate resilience in Dhaka City. However, the challenge is to ensure all stakeholders come forward to improve the present situation of service provision and find effective means of collaboration. At present, informal settlements in Dhaka lack basic services and infrastructure, and are becoming home to more and more rural migrants. While a number of NGOs and government agencies are addressing the water and sanitation deficit, climate change resilience is not always being considered when implementing these initiatives. Current processes of stakeholder collaboration are still limited. This briefing provides an overview of existing initiatives and collaborations in improving water and sanitation infrastructure, and recommends approaches to improving multistakeholder collaboration in addressing the water and sanitation needs and resilience of low-income settlements in Dhaka.

Building climate resilience to Noapara town: a coastal urban centre of Bangladesh

"This paper attempts to identify ways of making the town of Noapara, a coastal urban centre in the Jessore district in Bangladesh, resilient to the impacts of climate change, with specific focus on the water and sanitation sectors. Climatic events can trigger migration from hazard-prone areas to large cities. But if sufficient livelihood opportunities are available, improved resilience of towns or urban centres close to major cities may play a role in diverting migrants from the large cities. The situation in Naopara was investigated to see what investments would need to be made in the town to make it an attractive option for migrants. The findings indicate that Naopara lacks access to basic services such as safe water and sanitation, with only one percent of households being covered by the municipal water supply. The rest are dependent on hand tube wells and other sources. In particular, poor communities lack access to safe water because they do not have their own land, or the economic capacity to afford a tube well. Additionally, the lack of proper drainage systems, adequate sanitation facilities and waste management facilities increases the vulnerability of those communities during hazards. Climate change-induced hazards such as intense rainfall, cyclones, flooding and salinity intrusion are expected to exacerbate this. In order to address these limitations, the appropriate institutional support from the government, and collaboration among stakeholders, including public-private partnerships and community-based organisations, can play a key role. The preparation and implementation of a city resilience plan could eventually attract displaced people to smaller towns such as Naopara.

Natural and traditional defense mechanisms to reduce climate risks in coastal zones of Bangladesh

Substantially resourceful and densely populated coastal zones of Bangladesh experience numerous extreme events linked to hydro-meteorological processes viz. cyclones, tidal surges, floods, salinity intrusion and erosion etc. These hazards give rise to extensive damage to property and loss of lives every year. Further, anthropogenic activities in the coastal zones are accentuating environmental degradation causing widespread suffering. Cyclones and tornadoes in particular damage infrastructures and crops every year affecting the economy of the country negatively. Some naturally adapted plants as well as landscapes usually reduce the speed of cyclones and tornadoes and thus, protect the coastal zones. However, human activities have destroyed many of the forests and landscapes. Sundarbans and Chokoria Sundarbans mangrove forests of Bangladesh are under a great threat of extinction due to illicit logging and agricultural expansion. At least 34 plant species of tropical forest are on the verge of extinction. Many animals e.g., cats, bears, porcupines, wild boars, pythons and anteaters are in the process of being wiped out from the coastal areas. Among the marine and coastal species, Red crabs, jelly-fish, sharks, and dolphins are also rare but these were the major species prior to 1980s. This study revealed that during the recent decades there has been massive plantations and construction of embankment and polderization but these and other measures have been found to be impractical and ineffective in reducing disasters in coastal areas. There is a need for integration of traditional coping practices and wisdoms with modern approaches. Available knowledge on some of these traditional practices has been documented for establishing a sustainable policy for management of coastal zones of Bangladesh. By combining traditional and scientific management of coastal ecosystem with mangroves and other plants following triple-tier mechanism and habitat, it is possible to reduce the effects of natural and climate change-induced disasters. Under such a management system, the entire coastal zone can be made more productive and sustainable

Climate extremes and challenges to infrastructure development in coastal cities in Bangladesh

Most of the coastal cities in Bangladesh are situated on the riverbanks of low-lying tidal zones at an average elevation of 1.0–1.5 m from the sea level. Construction and management of buildings, roads, power and telecommunication transmission lines, drainage and sewerage and waste management are very difficult and vulnerable to climate change disasters. Cyclonic storms associated with tidal floods impact seriously the infrastructures and thus the livelihoods. Although coastal cities are the ultimate shelters of the coastal people during the extremes events, the coastal cities are not safe and cannot support them due to poor infrastructure. This study analyses the challenges coastal urbanization faces under different situations like cyclones, floods and water-logging, salinity, land-sliding and erosion etc. during the disasters and their effects on city lives for water supply and sanitation, power and electricity and waste management etc., and puts forward recommendations towards sustainable planning of coastal cities