CDKN Asia organised a dialogue with experts from Bangladesh to discuss a draft policy paper on “Local Urban Resilience Plans Using Climate Adaptation Indicators: Development and Integration in National Planning Processes” in the context of Bangladesh.
The policy brief presents a snapshot of the policies on climate change and resilience building measures in Bangladesh and assesses the role of local governments in achieving the national targets and international commitments with local climate resilience action plans and monitoring of adaptive capacity.
The experts who attended the dialogue discussed issues and gaps related to climate change adaptation at the local level and emphasised the implementation of action plans, identification of urban hotspots, and the need to involve more planners in city corporations as well as the private sector to build urban resilience.
Dr. A Atiq Rahman, Executive Director, Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, said, “Climate change needs village-level integration, rather than a focus on just urban and regional issues.” He said that the entire country should be considered as one urban system or city for the planning process. Md. Ziaul Haque, Director (Air Quality Management), Ministry of Environment, Bangladesh, said the policy brief could contribute to the upcoming National Adaptation Plan and that there was a plan to make project proposals undergo Environmental Impact Assessments for getting approval from the Planning Commission.
Both Prof. Saleemul Huq, Director, ICCCAD, and Md. Enamul Haq, Advisor, GIZ, concurred that proper implementation of action plans and monitoring was vital for achieving the target output and sustainable development.
S M Mehedi Ahsan, Senior Sector Specialist for Resilient Cities, KfW Development Bank, said, “We need to understand the baseline, quantify emissions, identify measures to accommodate good practices, decentralise planning and budgeting, and increase the number of urban planners in city corporations.”
There is a lack of regular review of policies, according to Sarder Shafiqul Alam, climate change expert at ICCCAD. He said, “There should be an uptake of local lessons at the national level.” Prof Munsur Rahman, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, added that “we need tools to increase resilience and reduce risks”.
The CDKN Asia team will be incorporating all the comments and suggestions given by the experts, and the policy brief will be published for public consumption shortly.
