Community-based adaptation (CBA) empowers communities to take action to address climate change based on their own decision-making processes, priorities, knowledge and needs. This is particularly important in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and across Asia, where vulnerability to climate change impacts is high. Although CBA is an emerging area, many efforts are being made to develop participatory methodologies, raise awareness …

We were walking deep within a maze of narrow, muddy pathways that separated the simple homes of the Bola slum in Dhaka. The structures around us were created of sheets of tin, held together with bamboo sticks and rope that somehow managed to rise up into two-story buildings. Open sewage drains ran between the houses, along which women crouched to …

A bottom-up approach emphasizing transparent, responsive governance and community empowerment is an important element of effective climate change adaptation. The international community is increasingly focused on ensuring that climate finance reaches vulnerable people and that local institutions have the capacity to plan for climate change. Bangladesh has begun addressing this issue, but more mainstreaming and coordination is needed. That is why …

Gobeshona is a new initiative being instigated by ICCCAD. It is being established in acknowledgement that much research about climate change in Bangladesh has and is being conducted both nationally and internationally. Resulting publications, however, remain widely dispersed and often unused and little acknowledged. As such, Gobeshona seeks to bring together the wide reaching research community who are investigating an …

Arriving in Dhaka the day after a general election embroiled in controversy and starting my time off confined to one neighbourhood because of hartals had me understandably uneasy about my time here at first, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. From the mountains in Bandarban to the rice paddies in Jessore, from a small Hindu village nestled next to …

Loss and damage encompasses a wide range of issues varying from the economic loss of crops due to variable rainfall patterns to the cultural losses that may occur from the relocation of communities due to permanent sea level rise or extreme weather events. While some of these impacts are avoidable, others are not and therefore efforts such as mitigation and …

A three day residential workshop on “Strengthening Partnership for Capacity Building and Finance of Local Level Climate Change Adaptation in Bangladesh” was conducted by ICCCAD and Action Research for Community Adaptation in Bangladesh (ARCAB) in Partnership with UNDP’s Poverty Environment Climate Mainstreaming (PECM) project of General Economic Divisions (GED), Government of Bangladesh. Lasting from the 14th to the 16th February, 2014.An opening seminar …

In the past few months ICCCAD has participated in numerous international meetings and workshops regarding Loss and Damage. Most of these meetings were focused on enhancing knowledge on the subject of Loss and Damage both regionally and globally. The Asia Pacific Network (APN) organized a three-day workshop on “Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction and Loss and Damage” on 21-23 …

I visited Bangladesh for ten weeks in the spring, joining the team at ICCCAD as a visiting researcher and volunteer for CBA 07, whilst completing my masters research. My overall experience was fruitful and rewarding, though it held many challenges throughout. My masters research examines the impact of global climate change knowledge for local climate change adaptation. This includes investigation …

Last month I had the pleasure of attending a conference at the University of Hamburg with some of the world’s leading experts on the subject of climate change and migration. The event, ‘Actions for Climate Change Induced Migration’, sought to bring together academics and researchers from across the globe to discuss how we can improve our understanding of the relationship between …