Bangladesh

People's Republic of Bangladesh
23.7°N 90.4°E · scale: National

See this case in context on the case study map.

Most of the country is low-lying delta formed by three major river systems, with a very high population density and a large agricultural and coastal population. Exposure is extreme; adaptive capacity has grown considerably.

What is changing here, and the mechanisms driving it.

• Sea level rise and saline intrusion into farmland
• Cyclone storm surge on a shallow coastline
• River flooding from upstream catchments
• Rural to urban migration following land loss

Find these, and write the year beside every figure. A statistic without a date is not evidence.

• Population living below a given elevation
• Cyclone death tolls now versus the 1970s
• Rate of relative sea level rise in the delta
• Area of farmland affected by salinity

Who is affected, and separately, who holds the decision-making power.

• Coastal farming and fishing households
• Internal migrants moving to Dhaka
• The government's disaster management system
• International climate finance providers

Named above as a starting list. For each one, add what they actually want, and note where two of them want incompatible things.

Find two sources that disagree about this case — not two summaries of the same view. Record who each is, what they claim, and what interest they have. A perspective without a holder is not a perspective.

Which of the six apply here, and what each one reveals.

• Possibility. High exposure does not have to mean high death tolls — and here it no longer does.
• Power. A country facing consequences it contributed almost nothing to.
• Scale. Emissions decided globally, impacts felt locally.

How significant is this? How effective was any response? What are the limitations of your evidence? What else could explain the pattern? Reach a judgement and defend it.

One dated development from the last twelve months. Does it strengthen, weaken or complicate the case as recorded above? Update this every time you revisit the case.

Vulnerability, exposure, adaptation under constraint, and climate justice.

• World Bank Climate Knowledge Portal climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org
  Country climate profiles with projections and exposure data.
• IPCC reports ipcc.ch
  The regional chapters carry the sea level and delta assessments.
• Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics bbs.gov.bd
  National census and agricultural data.