In the last few weeks, there has been an alarming rise in heatwaves. According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), temperatures are expected to rise above 40°C in parts of Bangladesh. In 2024, the warmest temperature on record broke previous trends. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) defines a heatwave as a prolonged period of excessively hot weather, often lasting up …

The International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), based at the Independent University Bangladesh, is a world-class institution focused on climate change, particularly adaptation. It aims to generate and distribute knowledge on climate change to aid adaptation, specifically in the global south. ICCCAD’s goals include training leaders, conducting research, building capacity for Less Developed Countries, and leading a network …

On December 11, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally launched the new Global Hub on Locally Led Adaptation (LLA) in Dhaka along with the foreign minister and environment minister, and Ban Ki-Moon, head of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA). The new Global Hub on LLA will be located in the Dhaka office of the GCA, which is located in the …

I have written about the need to ramp up adaptation in order to avoid the worst impacts of human-induced climate change around the world, as lead author on adaptation for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for over a decade. So the Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC containing that message was nothing new. However, what was new and …

The developed countries of the world had agreed under the Paris Agreement to provide USD 100 billion each year, starting from 2020 onwards, to support mitigation as well as adaptation projects in developing countries. The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was set up with its secretariat in Songdo, Korea to handle a significant part of that amount. The GCF was launched …

Adaptation to climate change is well underway. Now it’s time to make it add up to something bigger Under the Paris Agreement on climate change, all countries must set goals for their efforts to adapt to climate impacts – something that will be taken up at the next climate talks in Poland in December. When it comes to adaptation, setting …

I recently took a group of international young researchers from a number of countries on a field visit from Dhaka to the south coast around Khulna to demonstrate to them how Bangladeshis have adapted over the centuries and more recent decades to changes in the ecosystems in which the people live. However, it came to light that adaptation was not …

(This article was originally published here) We travel by car and speed-boat to the island of Kitubdia in the Bay of Bengal. From the ferry ghat, it is a bumpy 15-minute ride into town in the back of a jalopy. I’ve come to the island with Bangladeshi friends to research the impact of climate change on this community of fishermen …

(This article was originally published here) The world’s least developed countries (LDCs) have been recognised as needing financial and technological support to adapt to climate change under Article 4.9 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). LDCs have to prepare themselves to adapt to, and build resilience to, climate change impacts. Adaptation is not a choice but a …