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Bangladesh Enhancing Coastal Resilience in a Changing Climate

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Bangladesh Enhancing Coastal Resilience

Date

January, 2024

Author(s)

Kazi Swarna
Ignacio Urrutia
Mathijs van Ledden
Jean Henry Laboyrie
Jasper Verschuur
Zahir-ul Haque Khan
Ruben Jongejan
Kasper Lendering
Alejandra Gijón Mancheño.

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Abstract

Coastal Bangladesh, fringed by the Bay of Bengal and home to over 40 million people, is a dynamic, unique, thriving environment full of opportunities. However, multiple risks are also at play, as the coast of Bangladesh sits on the frontlines in the battle against climate change. Among the most climate-vulnerable and disaster-prone countries in the world, Bangladesh, particularly the coastal zone of Bangladesh, is experiencing setbacks in its development because of the impact of natural hazards. Tropical cyclones and floods are frequently recurring events, while coastal and riverine erosion and salinity intrusion is a chronic phenomenon affecting millions of people along the coast each year. The Bangladesh: Enhancing Coastal Resilience in a Changing Climate report seeks to provide actionable guidance for enhancing coastal resilience based on in-depth analytical work supported by the World Bank. The work included extensive stakeholder consultations, expert interviews, field visits, data analysis, and numerical modeling to contribute to the design of sustainable climate-resilient coastal investments. The target audience of this report is intentionally broad, encompassing those at the strategic, operational, and technical levels, from decision makers to practitioners, and all those interested in the Bangladesh coast or are involved in programs to increase its resilience against natural hazards. Overall, this report Summarizes the key lessons from past interventions, which can guide the design for the next generation of coastal resilience programs; Takes a deep dive into how Bangladesh can adopt a more risk-based strategy following international best practices and Inspires what future interventions oriented towards more nature-based solutions could look like. Seven cross-cutting recommendations pave the way forward and offer an opportunity to strengthen the resilience of the coastal zone and build shared prosperity for decades to come.

Citation

Kazi, Swarna, Ignacio Urrutia, Mathijs van Ledden, Jean Henry Laboyrie, Jasper Verschuur, Zahir-ul Haque Khan, Ruben Jongejan, Kasper Lendering, and Alejandra Gijón Mancheño. 2022. Bangladesh: Enhancing Coastal Resilience in a Changing Climate. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

Publisher

The World Bank

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