RAJSHAHI: Climate change is becoming a threat to public health in both rural and urban environment and development that arises due to climate change needs to be considered in the overall risk management framework, reports BSS. All the vulnerability issues need to be brought under comprehensive risk based master plan to accommodate at least 30 per cent more people from vulnerable rural areas only due to climate change. The observations came at a daylong impact chain workshop for the nationwide climate vulnerability assessment in Rajshahi.
Ministry of Environment and Forest organised the workshop at Parjatan Motel in association with Climate Finance Governance (CFG) Project and GIZ.
Main thrust of the workshop was to develop the potential sector specific climate change impacts and to better understand the cause-and-effect relationship determining vulnerability in the system under review.
With Additional Commissioner of Rajshahi division Zakir Hossain in the chair, Divisional Director of Department of Forest Md Masuduzzaman and Senior Assistant Chief of the ministry Farjana Khanom addressed the inaugural session as chief and special guests respectively. During their keynote presentations, CFG Project Adviser Afjal Hossain, National Consultant Sanjib Kumar Saha and Gender and Livelihood Specialist Dr Nahid Rezwana highlighted the adverse impact of climate change and vulnerabilities in the region.
They said the Government of Bangladesh accredits the highest importance to the necessity of enhancing national capacity to cope with the risks induced by climate change.
In recent years, vulnerability assessments have increasingly been used to identify climate change impact hotspots and to provide input for adaptation and development planning at local, national and regional levels.
Taking part in group discussions, the participants mentioned adverse impacts of climate change have triggered recurrence of natural calamities in the high Barind tract posing a serious threat to the overall farming system as well as the living conditions of people there.
As consequences of the climate change, various unusual circumstances, particularly drought, dust storms due to desertification, eroding landscapes, less crop growth due to lack of water for irrigation, and malnutrition, are being observed.