Bangladesh is one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world and is set to become even more so as a result of climate change. Climate change is expected to increase the intensity and severity of many of the natural hazards already suffered by Bangladesh as well as negatively impact on the wider socio-economic situation, creating extensive losses in the housing, land and property sectors, further losses of livelihoods and driving new surges of migration and displacement.
In order to address this looming crisis, it is essential that the Government of Bangladesh takes action now to draft laws and policies that protect the human rights of all climate displaced persons and to support those laws and policies with an effective and accountable institutional framework. This work should be supported by the impressive civil society in Bangladesh as well as by stakeholders at the regional and international levels.
To this end, Displacement Solutions and Young Power in Social Action have just launched Climate Displacement in Bangladesh: Stakeholders, Laws and Policies – Mapping the Existing Institutional Framework.
For the first time, this groundbreaking 182-page report comprehensively maps and details every law, policy and institution in Bangladesh that relates to the challenge of climate displacement in this, one of the world’s most heavily threatened countries.
The report concludes that although there are a large number of laws, policies, institutions and stakeholders that directly or indirectly relate to climate displacement, at present they do not combine to form a coherent, comprehensive or effective institutional framework for responding to or planning for climate displacement.
The report makes a number of key recommendations for how the Government of Bangladesh can immediately act to create new laws and policies to protect the rights of climate displaced persons and to create an effective institutional framework to ensure clarity and accountability in the implementation of those laws and policies.
The report is intended to be used by Government officials, civil society, regional and international stakeholders, researchers, UN officials, diplomats, donor agencies and others who are working towards resolving climate displacement both in Bangladesh and in other countries similarly affected.
The report is available in full here.
For further information about this report or the work of the Bangladesh HLP Initiative, please contact: info@displacementsolutions.org
