Some mornings in Dhaka, the air hangs heavy with moisture and exhaust, and the clouds threaten another downpour. Yet the rain no longer drains as it once did. Wetlands that once soaked up excess water have been filled for real estate, canals have vanished beneath concrete, and water now collects in stagnant pools, breeding disease.
As the city struggles, the loss of biodiversity quietly shapes its fate. Across Bangladesh, ecosystems from the Sundarbans mangroves that blunt cyclones to the rivers and wetlands that feed millions are silently holding the country together. But they are fraying. And unless Bangladesh’s new climate pledge, the third Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0), treats nature as core infrastructure rather than a side concern, resilience will remain fragile.
Biodiversity is not a luxury
Biodiversity is the foundation on which food security, public health, and disaster protection rest. Pollinators such as bees and butterflies sustain the harvests of fruits and vegetables that diversify diets and prevent disease. Healthy rivers and wetlands provide fish, Bangladesh’s most important source of animal protein after rice, and buffer floods by storing monsoon water.
The Sundarbans stands between millions of people and the Bay of Bengal’s fury, absorbing the impact of cyclones before they can devastate inland homes. These living systems are not separate from development; they are the infrastructure that makes development possible.
The value of nature’s services is undeniable. The Sundarbans mangroves provide storm protection worth hundreds of millions of dollars, saving about $396 per household behind each kilometre of intact forest. Restoring Dhaka’s wetlands could yield billions of taka annually by cutting flood losses, cooling the city, storing water, and raising property values.
Globally, nearly 70% of major crops rely on pollinators, and Bangladesh’s hilsa industry, worth around $3 billion and supporting 2.5 million people, depends on healthy rivers. When ecosystems degrade, food insecurity, disease, and disasters intensify.
Bangladesh’s NDC 3.0, submitted in 2025, pledges a 20.31% emissions cut by 2035, with 6.39% achieved domestically. It also aims to boost resilience across water, agriculture, health, and urban systems. Yet biodiversity remains on the margins. The Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector is tasked with reducing 12.71 million tons of carbon dioxide by 2035 through climate smart farming, better livestock management, and large-scale reforestation, including 230,000 hectares of degraded forest and 100,000 hectares of coastal land.
But the contrast is stark as the energy sector will cut over 69 million tons, nearly six times the AFOLU share. Funding and attention follow technology-heavy projects, while biodiversity based solutions lag behind. Even progress metrics reflect this bias, measuring megawatts of renewables or kilometres of transit but rarely ecosystem health. A monoculture plantation may tick a tree planting box yet offer little for true biodiversity or resilience.
Nature based solutions appear throughout NDC 3.0, yet they remain under-implemented and under-funded. Mangrove restoration, wetland protection, and green urban infrastructure are mentioned, but in practice they are often small scale pilot projects. Urban adaptation plans prioritize drainage infrastructure but say little about saving the wetlands that naturally store stormwater.
Coastal adaptation strategies discuss embankments but underplay the mangrove belts that reduce storm surges. Without ecosystems as a central pillar, such efforts risk being short lived. Concrete drains cannot replace the absorptive power of wetlands, and no seawall can replicate the fisheries and storm protection that mangroves provide.
This is where Bangladesh’s climate strategy needs a shift. Policymakers must start treating biodiversity as a critical national infrastructure. Wetlands, rivers, mangroves, and pollinator networks should be budgeted for, monitored, and protected with the same seriousness as power grids and highways.
Climate finance mechanisms must explicitly fund ecosystem restoration and conservation. International funds such as the Green Climate Fund and the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund offer opportunities to support mangrove afforestation, wetland rehabilitation, and community based conservation, but Bangladesh must present biodiversity centred projects that meet their criteria. Domestically, climate budgets can dedicate resources to wetland protection, forest co management, and pollinator habitat restoration.
Monitoring and reporting must also evolve. Beyond measuring emissions cuts or megawatts installed, Bangladesh should track biodiversity indicators such as wetlands saved from encroachment, fish stocks restored, mangrove cover, and pollinator abundance. Making these outcomes visible would drive investment from ministries and local governments.
Integrating biodiversity into climate policy is not just an environmental concern but an economic and social necessity. Healthy ecosystems cut disaster losses, boost food security, and sustain livelihoods. Mangroves store carbon and shield coastal communities, wetlands filter water and cool cities, and forests hold slopes firm. Investing in these systems is not charity; it is smart adaptation and cost effective mitigation combined.
As Bangladesh implements NDC 3.0, the choice is stark. The country can continue to treat biodiversity as an afterthought and face escalating losses from storms, floods, disease, and food insecurity.
Or it can put nature at the centre of its climate response and build a future that is resilient, equitable, and sustainable. That means halting wetland encroachment in Dhaka and beyond, scaling up mangrove restoration along the coast, supporting farmers to protect pollinators and soil health, and making biodiversity a shared responsibility across ministries.
It means telling a new story, one where climate action is not just about solar panels and electric buses, but also about rivers that flow freely, forests that thrive, and wetlands that breathe life into cities.
Bangladesh has shown leadership before, from pioneering community-based cyclone shelters to championing climate justice on the global stage. Now it must lead again by proving that protecting biodiversity is not a distraction from climate goals but the surest path to achieving them. If we build our climate future on a living foundation, we build it to last.
Malik Al Hasan Shuvo works at the International Centre of Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) and graduated from the Department of Disaster Science and Climate Resilience, University of Dhaka.
