Bangladesh may incur a loss of its 2 per cent GDP by 2050 if the international community fails to take effective measures to cope with climate change impacts.
Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin gave the information on Sunday in the parliament, reports BSS.
The minister was responding to a starred question placed by treasury bench lawmaker Nasimul Alam Chowdhury of Cumilla-8 in the parliament with Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair.
“If the international community fails to take effective measures to cope with climate change impacts, the country may incur a loss of its 2 per cent GDP (gross domestic product) by 2050 while 9.4 per cent of its GDP by 2100,” the minister said.
Citing the study findings of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the environment minister said the country suffered a loss of US$ 1.67 billion, which was equivalent to 6 to 8 per cent of its GDP, in 2007 due to a devastating cyclone induced by global climate change.
He said a countrywide flood caused a loss to 4.8 per cent of the country’s GDP in 1998.
Shahab Uddin said the government has been implementing various programmes across the country to cope with the adverse impacts of climate change.