Challenges of Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation in Bangladesh

Adaptation is a policy instrument for facing the challenges posed by climate change. Government pursues adaptation in different ways aside from simply creating awareness about climate change and its effects. It makes rules, provides financial support, and strengthens institutional capacities. These initiatives require additional resources and efforts which the developing countries, the most vulnerable to climate change, are unable to afford. For this reason, government needs to mainstream adaptation into their development planning and programs including the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Mainstreaming involves a number of challenges, most of which are related to policy instruments, such as lack of awareness and knowledge sharing, resource shortages, organisational inefficiencies, and ineffective regulations. Bangladesh being a developing country and climatically the most vulnerable, has undertaken various policy measures for adaptation and its mainstreaming. This study has made an effort to identify the challenges associated with the adaptation mainstreaming endeavours in Bangladesh.