Mainstreaming climate change adaptation in Bangladesh into national planning

Saleemul Huq in the Daily Star (Bangladesh):  As the adverse impacts of human induced climate change become apparent and irrefutable, more and more countries are developing national adaptation plans. Most of these planning exercises start by treating climate change impacts as risks to be adapted to and base the analysis on which parts or sectors of the country are most vulnerable and then develop plans to reduce their vulnerability. The Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP) is a good example of this type of plan.

However, as the magnitude and long-term nature of the climate change threat is realised it is becoming clear that simply implementing a set of adaptation projects, although useful, is not going to be sufficient. If long-term resilience is to be built then climate change adaptation (as well as mitigation) needs to be embedded (or mainstreamed) into regular national planning at all levels. The Planning Ministry in Bangladesh has started such an initiative to embed climate change into regular planning and also to have a climate change element built into the national budget.

The International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) at the Independent University, Bangladesh has also taken an initiative to train officials from ministries of planning in Asia and Africa through a series of short training courses on mainstreaming climate change into national planning.

The first training course for Asia was held in Dhaka last year and the second course for Africa was held recently in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Altogether over fifty planning officials from over twenty countries in Asia and Africa were trained. They have now, themselves, formed a network of Climate Change Planners....