More than 60% of Bangladesh’s urban population is concentrated mainly in four metropolitan cities - Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, and Rajshahi.
By 2035, nearly 110 million people, about half of its total population, are expected to live in urban areas of the country, says a press release.
Around 13 million people within Bangladesh are likely to be displaced by 2050 due to climate change, eventually migrating to Dhaka and other big cities, where climate migrants are expected to outnumber internal migrants.
Speakers gave this projection at the Third Annual National Conference on Urban Resilience to Climate Change, which began on Sunday at the Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB), Dhaka.
The Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN), International Center for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), and the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS), along with multiple other partners, organized the three day long conference.
The participants at the conference focused on identifying necessary policy issues, and national and local action plans to make cities in Bangladesh increasingly resilient to climate change and more migrant-friendly.
Dr Saleemul Huq, Director of ICCCAD at Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), chaired the inaugural session with Professor Shamsul Alam, Member and senior Secretary of the General Economic Division, Planning Commission, as the chief guest.
Professor Alam emphasized the importance of planned urbanization for sustainable development of the country, which is going to be reflected in the upcoming eighth five-year plan of the government of Bangladesh.
According to Dr Huq, building climate-resilient and migrant-friendly cities and towns in Bangladesh have become urgent needs in order to tackle the adverse effects of future climate change.
He also focused on youth participation in the decision-making process and recognition of urban climate champions in building resilience.
The best resilience campaigners in this regard will be awarded, he said.
The welcome address was given by Sarder Shafiqul Alam, coordinator, ICCCAD, and Dr John Carruthers, director, sustainable urban planning program, George Washington University, presented the keynote paper.
The inaugural session consisted of a plenary session on urban health services for resilient cities and towns, where multiple stakeholders discussed the need for an urban policy and an urban-focused institute at the government level.
The parallel sessions disseminated barrier analysis on gender-disaggregated knowledge and group specific risks during earthquakes in Dhaka, climate change induced migration, sustainable urban transport, employment creation for the urban poor, and improved basic services for climate migrant communities, and so on.
The final session focused on the TALANOA Dialogue - a global conversation about efforts to combat climate change launched at COP23 in 2017 – specifying Bangladesh. Efforts to achieve global targets under the Paris Climate Agreement, Renewable energy, eco-friendly transportation and industries, were also highlighted in the discussion.
Over the following two days, the conference will aim to share research knowledge, identify knowledge gaps in policy and action plans, and explore ideas and options for multi-stakeholder collaboration.
It is also expected to increase the capacity of city corporations, municipalities, and CBOs in building climate resilient and migrant-friendly cities and towns at the local level.