OVERVIEW
Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to extreme weather events mainly due to its vast coastal area, high population density, high poverty rate and reliance on natural resources. Almost 25% of the population live in coastal areas and are likely to be at threat of flooding, storms, sea level rise and tropical cyclones. Current saline intrusion reaches 100 km from the Bay of Bengal impacting agriculture, drinking water and livelihoods.a The health sector currently does not have adequate funding, infrastructure, human resource capacity, logistics and services required to fully address the impact of climate change on human health.
SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS
• Under a high emissions scenario, mean annual temperature is projected to rise by about 4.8°C on average from 1990 to 2100. If emissions decrease rapidly, the temperature rise is limited to about 1.4°C.
• Under a high emissions scenario, and without large investments in adaptation, an annual average of 7.2 million people are projected to be affected by flooding due to sea level rise between 2070 and 2100. If emissions decrease rapidly and there is a major scale up in protection (i.e. continued construction/raising of dikes) the annual affected population could be limited to about 14,100 people. Adaptation alone will not offer sufficient protection, as sea level rise is a long-term process, with high emissions scenarios bringing increasing impacts well beyond the end of the century.
• By 2070, over 147 million people are projected to be at risk of malaria assuming a high emissions scenario. If emissions decrease rapidly, projections indicate this number could decrease to about 117 million.
• Under a high emissions scenario, it is anticipated that 20.3 million people could be living in cyclone High Risk Areas by 2050 compared to 8.3 million at present.b
• Under a high emissions scenario, an additional 7.6 million people could be exposed to very high salinity (>5 parts per thousand) by 2050 compared to current levels.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION
Bangladesh has conducted national assessments of climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation for health and has a national health adaptation strategy. Country reported data (see section 6) indicate there remain opportunities for action in the following areas:
1) Adaptation
• Strengthen adaptive capacity by building climate resilient infrastructure, including health infrastructure.
• Estimate the cost of implementing health resilience to climate change, including allocations from international and domestic funds.
2) Mitigation
• Conduct valuation of co-benefits to health of climate change mitigation policies.
3) National policy implementation
• Develop an exclusive national policy for climate change issues.
• Utilise a Rights Based Approach and take action for mainstreaming gender in climate change policy and programs to address the disproportionate impact of climate change on the health of women and children.