Page - 453 - in Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Concepts, Methods and Policy Options

19 TowardsEstablishingaNationalMechanism… 453 proposednewmechanismwillbeacentralisedframeworkforaccounting,coordinat- ing,disbursingfinance,monitoringandevaluatingprograms thataddress lossesand damagesfromclimatechange.Theproposedmechanismwill facilitateandincorpo- rateclimate induced lossesanddamages intobothclimateanddisasterpolicies and address these lossesanddamagesforamorecomprehensiveandlong-termresponse toclimatechange. Thischapter isdividedintofourparts: (i)Adiscussionof the lossesanddamages facing Bangladesh from various climatic hazards; (ii) A presentation of policies and procedures of MoDMR including the national plan, laws governing disaster management and the procedures immediately following a disaster; aswell as (iii) An elaboration of the policies of the MoEF including the laws, institutions and strategic plans that govern climate changewithin theministry; and (iv)Reflection on current efforts undertaken by the government, researchers, experts and NGOs towardsestablishinganationalmechanismtoaddress lossanddamage. 19.2 LossesandDamages fromClimate-RelatedHazards FacingBangladesh Bangladeshisaffectedbybothslow-andrapid-onsetclimaticeventsandexperiences, amongothersflooding,cyclones,drought, sea-level rise, shiftingpatterns in rainfall andrisingtemperatures(seeFig.19.1foramulti-hazardmap).Thefollowingcaptures theevidenceonobservedandprojected lossesanddamages1 facedby thecountry. Flooding Being themost commonclimatic hazard facing the country, floods inundate nearly 25%ofthecountryeveryyearandaseverefloodoccursevery4or5yearssubmerging over 60%of the country (Nishat et al. 2013; seeFig. 19.2). Floods result in loss of lives,crops,homesanddamage to infrastructureandassets.Observeddata fromthe Bangladesh’sMeteorologicalDepartmentshowthatrainfallisbecomingincreasingly erratic.With increasingglobal temperaturesabove2°C, rainfallcould increasewith a significant impactonflood levels (Mirza2002). Ontheotherhand,Nishatetal. (2013)posit thatover theyears thedeathtoll from extremeevents includingcyclonesandfloodinghasdecreased,ashas theseverityof 1Althoughmanydefinitions of losses and damages exist, for the purpose of this chapter,wefirst breakdowntheconceptintothetwoterms:lossesanddamages(fordefinitions,seealsoseechapter byMechler et al. 2018).Wedefine losses as impacts that “are lost forever and cannot be brought backoncelost,“anddamagesasharmtosomething“thatcanberepaired,suchasaroadorbuilding orembankment.”(DurandandHuq2015).Thisapproachhighlightsthedifferentimplicationsofthe twotypesof impacts,andmaycreateapolicyspacetoenabledifferentsupportiveresponses.When wetie these twoconcepts together,DurandandHuq’sdefinitionof lossesanddamagesholdswhen thecostsofadaptationarenot recuperated;orwhenadaptationefforts are ineffective,maladaptive inthelongtermoraltogetherimpossible.WarnerandVanderGeestandWarner’s(2015)definition, “the negative effects of climate variability and climate change that people have not been able to copewithoradapt to,” is also relevant inourunderstandingof the issue.