The country may suffer total US$ 121 billion worth of losses and damage due to climate change impacts in forty-five years- from 2005 to 2050- asses a study.
"Climate change may cause up to US$ 121 billion loss and damage to Bangladesh, which is equivalent to around 5 per cent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the study said, adding the estimation has been made based on the rise in temperature.
Climate change will also frustrate the country's attainment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and undermine poverty eradication and progress made on food security, the study fears.
The study suggested that the government set a 'national mechanism on loss and damage' caused by the climate change through a technical team.
Findings of the study were made public at a dialogue styled Climate Change Induced Disaster Loss and Damage held at the National Disaster Management Institute and Training Centre in the capital's Mohakhali area.
ActionAid Bangladesh and Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief jointly organised the function.
A part of the initiative to establish a 'national mechanism on loss and damage', led by the Ministry of Disaster Management of Relief, the dialogue was arranged to address losses and damage caused by natural calamites under the influence of climate change.
Satya Brata Saha, additional secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief presented the study report.
Abu Syed Mohammad Hashim, director general of the Department of Disaster Management, chaired the event.
Dr Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development of Independent University (ICCCAD), and Hasin Jahan, country director of Practical Action Bangladesh, addressed it as special guests.
Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh, moderated the function.
Tanjir Hossain, head of Resilience and Climate Justice, ActionAid Bangladesh, made a presentation on Community Led Assessment of Loss and Damage to Climate Change: A 7 Step Guide.
The study emphasised stronger coordination among the ministries, removing institutional barriers in responding to loss and damage, availability of more data on potential loss and damage, addressing climate risks, enhancing institutional capacity and so on, and increasing technical capacity and skills.
Mr Dr. Saleemul Huq said it is high time to establish a national structure to asses the exact and specific losses and damage due to the climate change induced disasters.
Mr Abu Syed Mohammad Hashim said the ministry is leading a short-term project on the basis of the scoping study and ongoing progress of the executive committee of Warsaw International Mechanism, which will contribute to designing the National Mechanism on Climate Induced Disaster Loss and Damage.
The dialogue called for coordination among all the ministries and departments concerned to make the project successful.
The dialogue brought together policymakers, scientists, practitioners and other stakeholders to share the progress and seek guidelines from the participants about the next steps.
The initiative started in 2016 post Paris Agreement on Climate Change and over the past two years, significant progress has been made in terms of deepening understanding of the issue and identifying ways to address economic and social losses and damage.
sajibur@gmail.com