Inter-ministerial Dialogue on Climate-Resilient Infrastructure

Department of Environment, Dhaka, Bangladesh

22 September 2022, 9:30 Dhaka Time

Event description:

In Bangladesh, the predicted sea-level rise of 45 cm by 2100 could inundate almost 10.9% of Bangladesh’s territory, affecting coastal zones and deltas with high population densities and intense economic activity. By 2050, one in every seven Bangladeshi citizens could be displaced by climate change, with up to 18 million people having to move because of sea-level rise alone. Bangladesh is also exposed to other climate hazards such as agricultural droughts, increased rainfall, and erratic monsoons and cyclones. For example, cyclone Amphan alone destroyed agricultural land and damaged over 83,000 structures, with economic costs exceeding $131 million. Events like this are likely to increase in frequency and intensity. The estimated annual economic costs of climate change impacts in Bangladesh could amount to 2% of its gross domestic product by 2050 and 9.4% by 2100.

Despite its vulnerability, and in the face of great adversity, Bangladesh has emerged as a leader in climate change adaptation. The Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 provides an adaptative plan to achieve a safe, climate-resilient and prosperous delta by 2100; the Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan is a transformational program recently introduced to deliver on Bangladesh’s policy aims and goals by providing a pathway for a fast-tracked delivery of the SDGs by 2030; and the new National Adaptation Plan (NAP) being finalized will align national priorities to identify key adaptation needs and specific goals needed to guide decision-making and implement national strategies to address these needs

The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) is a key partner to the Government of Bangladesh and will continue to support the country in implementing its climate adaptation strategies. One of the key areas GCA is supporting the Government of Bangladesh to scale up adaptation action is by influencing infrastructure investments to be climate-resilient. Bangladesh invests over $14 billion (or 4.5% of GDP) in infrastructure, the majority from the public sector, however it has an investment gap of $6 billion (or 1.9% of the GDP) per year to enhance the quality and efficiency existing road, energy and water supply infrastructure. The impacts of climate risks to infrastructure cascade through the economy, and can exacerbate the need for infrastructure investments in the country. To ensure that infrastructure investments going forward contribute to the country’s development objectives, it is necessary to quantify adaptation needs in Bangladesh and prioritizing sustainable engineering or natural solutions to enhance infrastructure resilience, optimizing the return on investment and capturing the adaptation dividends.

OBJECTIVE
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) of the Government of Bangladesh and GCA are working with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), University of Oxford, and the Centre for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS), with support from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands, to stress test Bangladesh’s infrastructure systems against climate risks and quantify the impacts of these risks to the provision of services at the household level and to the country’s development objectives. This initiative will contribute in influencing investments in climate-resilient infrastructure from the government and its development partners, and in addressing Bangladesh’s infrastructure adaptation needs.

The first Inter-Ministerial Dialogue on Climate-Resilient Infrastructure has the objective to promote a technical and investment policy dialogue between government officials and technical experts from key ministries, divisions, and departments in Bangladesh. It will build on the in-depth analysis developed in the Climate-Resilient Infrastructure Assessment in Bangladesh to discuss how the insights from this initiative can support the integration of climate risk and resilience into infrastructure planning policies and processes, and influence downstream investments in adaptation and resilience in the country.

DIALOGUE OVERVIEW
This Inter-Ministerial Dialogue on Climate-Resilient Infrastructure is hosted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). Mr. Mirza Shawkat Ali, Director (Climate Change), Department of Environment will moderate the opening session while welcome the Dialogue will be inaugurated by Mr. Sanjay Kumar Bhowmik, Additional Secretary, MoEFCC for the opening remarks, Government of Bangladesh. The dialogues on climate risk to infrastructure and investment policies on resilient infrastructure will be moderated by Mr. S.M. Mehedi Ahsan, Country Manager for Bangladesh, Global Center on Adaptation. Lastly, the dialogue will be closed by Mr. Md. Sayduzzaman, Additional Secretary, Programming Division, Planning Commission, Government of Bangladesh.

PROGRAM

09:30 – 09:50: Coffee and Registration
09:50 – 10:10: Stress Testing Bangladesh’s Infrastructure

Mr. Sanjay Kumar Bhowmik, Additional Secretary, MoEFCC [Opening remarks]
Mr. Danilo Cançado, Program Officer Green Infrastructure, GCA [Presentation – 10 min]

10:10 – 10:50: Dialogue on Climate Risks to Transport and Energy Infrastructure

Mr. Md. Sarfaraz Gani Adnan, Doctor of Philosophy, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford [Presentation – 10 min]
Ms. Zakia Afroz, Joint Secretary, Planning Wing, MoEFCC
Mr. Taro Katsurai, Senior Representative, Transport and Water, Japan International Cooperation Agency
Mr. Zikrul Islam, Superintendent Engineer, Roads and Highways Division
Mr. Md. Jasim Uddin, Superintendent Engineer and Project Director, Climate-Resilient Infrastructure Mainstreaming, LGED
(open discussion)

10:50 – 11:20: Dialogue on Climate Risks to Water and Social Infrastructure

Mr. Mostafa Ali, Director (GIS), CEGIS and Ms. Amelie Paszkowski, Doctor of Philosophy, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford [Presentation – 10 min]
Ms. Anna Balance, Senior Climate Change and Environment Advisor, British High-Commission
Mr. Mirza Shawkat Ali, Director (Climate Change), Department of Environment
Ms. Bodrun Nahar, Director (Technical), WARPO
Mr. Zia Uddin Baig, Additional Director General, BWDB
(open discussion)

11:20 – 11:35: Coffee / Tea break
11:35 – 12:10: Dialogue on Infrastructure Service Provision to Households in Coastal Areas

Ms. Amelie Paszkowski, Doctor of Philosophy, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford [Presentation – 10 min]
Mr. Gopal Krishna Debnath, Additional Chief Engineer and Director, Climate Resilient Local Infrastructure Center, LGED
Ms. Shaila Sahid, Chief Operating Officer, Disaster Climate Change Support Unit, Department of Public Health Engineering
(open discussion)

12:10 – 12:50: Dialogues Investment Policies on Resilient Infrastructure

Mr. Md. Syeedul Haque, Senior Project Management Specialist, UNOPS [Presentation – 10 min]
Mr. Jorifa Fakatun, Director, Directorate of Systems Planning, Bangladesh Power Development Board
Mr. Sudhir Muralidharan, Country Manager for Bangladesh, UNOPS
Mr. Md. Jahedul Huq, Development Planning Consultant, NRP-PD, Programming Division, Planning Commission
Mr. Dr. Fazle Rabbi Sadeque Ahmed, DMD (Environment and Climate Change), PKSF
(open discussion)

12:50 – 13:00: Closing Remarks

Mr. Md. Sayduzzaman, Additional Secretary, Programming Division, Planning Commission

13:00: Lunch