Published in The Daily Star on 12 October 2020
Over the last five decades, our economic performance has been impressive, despite various limitations such as resource constraints and weak governance. A few social indicators have also done well. For example, life expectancy at birth has improved, infant mortality rate has declined, and women’s participation in the labour market has increased. However, challenges continue to stay along the way. Not only policies and politics have changed and influenced its economic achievements, the country has also seen various shocks—both external and internal. One such shock is environmental and climate change related.
The environment is under pressure due to our high population and its concentration in major cities. Urban areas are crowded as people migrate from the rural areas for better opportunities. This has led to land clearing for housing, construction of infrastructure and demand for higher transportation and other facilities. Bangladesh is very dependent on environmental resources such as land, water, forests and fisheries. Overexploitation of these resources by a large population create environmental problems.
The growing economy is also experiencing higher industrialisation, greater use of transportation, construction of buildings, fossil fuel-based energy generation, agricultural production through chemical fertiliser and urbanisation. Increased economic activities put a strain on limited natural resources. Environmental problems manifest through contamination and pollution of land, water and air, which have serious implications for the economy and human health. Geographically, the country is situated in a disaster-prone region, causing natural catastrophes each year.
The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2020 prepared by Yale University shows that Bangladesh ranks 162nd among 180 countries in the world, scoring only 29 out of 100. Denmark ranks first with a score of 82.5 and Liberia takes 180th with a score of 22.6. Within South Asia, Bangladesh ranks sixth, ahead of India and Afghanistan but behind all other South Asian countries. The EPI score is calculated based on 32 performance indicators across 11 issue categories. These categories include air quality, sanitation and drinking water, heavy metals, waste management, biodiversity and habitat, ecosystem services, fisheries, climate change, pollution emissions, water resources, and agriculture.
Climate change is at the core of these environmental challenges faced by Bangladesh. The impact of climate change is understood to manifest through the higher frequency of natural disasters such as drought, flood, cyclones and tidal surges, as well as rising sea levels. This will severely affect the lives and livelihoods of a large number of people. The effects of the sea level rise will be observed through increased rates of coastal erosion, loss of coastal vegetation and habitats, intrusion of salt into groundwater systems and coastal ecosystems, temporary and permanent flooding, and storm surges. These effects will in turn have negative impacts on agriculture, water resources, commercial and residential property, energy and transportation systems, and human health.
Amidst these high risks of climate change, the country is now facing the impact of Covid-19. During this devastating pandemic, the poor have become further marginalised, and low-income earners and informal sector workers are at the risk of sinking into poverty. Like all other countries, Bangladesh will have to undertake recovery measures to rebuild its pandemic affected economy. The economic progress has to be brought back on track. Higher economic growth means higher production and consumption. Production of goods requires use of natural resources. However, such practices of exploitation of natural resources for economic growth is unsustainable.
Bangladesh has been demonstrating its leadership in raising its voice to mitigate the impacts of climate change, particularly on poor countries which are the victims of the acts of more advanced nations. Recently, Bangladesh has become the Chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) for 2020-22. The CVF is a South-South cooperation platform and a partnership of countries that are highly vulnerable to global warming. Bangladesh’s Prime Minister and current Chair of the CVF Sheikh Hasina, in an article published in The Guardian on September 22, succinctly described the challenges of climate change and Covid-19 and emphasised that the developed countries should play their part.
Climate change related and Covid-19 induced shocks are deep and multifarious. The international community has to come forward to support Bangladesh. Parallel to that, the government of Bangladesh will have to reorient its focus from a mere growth centric economy to an equitable and inclusive economy. And a green economic recovery path will be the best way to do that. This paradigm shift will enhance human wellbeing and ensure sustainability of the economy.
More specifically, four issues need to be attended to while planning for the economic recovery from Covid-19. First, in order to fulfill its target of becoming an upper middle-income country by 2031 and a developed country by 2041, there will be enhanced efforts to grow faster. This will mean more industrialisation and urbanisation. This means more pollution. Therefore, policymakers will need to ensure that such a process of economic prosperity does not put a strain on the environment. One way is to engage communities in protecting, regenerating and managing natural resources. Quite often, the destroyers of the environment remain above the law. Harmful activities such as encroachment of forest land, destruction of agricultural land and waterbodies, unplanned construction, and emission of hazardous wastes should be stopped through enforcement of the laws. Good governance is crucial for a good natural environment.
Second, sustainable investment should be the way to boost economic activities. Even before the outbreak of Covid-19, Bangladesh had focused on investing in the development of its infrastructure to achieve higher growth. While the importance of infrastructural investment is not only essential for growth but also for employment creation, not all investments are good for the environment. Investment in fossil fuels, particularly coal dependent power plants, is not desirable since it increases carbon emissions. The recent decision of the government of Bangladesh to shift from coal-based energy to clean energy is a right move towards a low-carbon development strategy.
Third, fiscal measures can also help support green recovery. The government has announced a number of stimulus packages for various sectors to recover their losses due to the coronavirus. However, more resources are needed to address increased poverty. The need for a universal social safety net has been felt badly during the ongoing pandemic, but resource constraints do not allow us to introduce this to protect the marginalised people. Perhaps increased taxes on luxury sectors having high negative impacts on the environment and polluting industries can create some fiscal space to support the poor.
Fourth, the poor have less or no control over resources and lack clean air, safe drinking water, adequate food and nutrition, and access to clean energy. The impacts of environmental degradation and climate change falls on the poor more severely than the rich, as the latter can afford to protect themselves while the former cannot. The poor and the marginalised should be provided with clean drinking water, sanitation and clean air. For a sustainable and resilient society, the well-being of the poor has to be at the forefront.
Dr Fahmida Khatun is the Executive Director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue. Views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the organisation she works for.