This Policy Brief features the major findings of the Bangladesh Poverty Watch Report 2024: Climate Change and Poverty Nexus prepared by InM in collaboration with the Center for Inclusive Development Dialogue (CIDD) published in May 2025. The focused analysis of the intricate relationship, particularly in the climate-vulnerable regions of the country, highlights the impact of climate-induced hazards on livelihoods and poverty. The emerging policy priorities and the challenges faced by the affected communities are highlighted in the Policy Brief.
Bangladesh continues to remain acutely susceptible to the impacts of climate change. Extreme weather events such as rising temperatures, droughts, cyclones, floods, riverbank erosion, salinity intrusion, and sea level rise endanger the lives and livelihoods of millions. These threats are deeply interconnected with the country’s existing challenges of poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation, forming a complex and potentially devastating nexus.
In response, Bangladesh has undertaken several national initiatives, notably the National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA) and the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP). These strategies emphasise an integrated development approach that incorporates climate change management and promotes a transition towards a low-carbon economy.
The Policy Brief identifies three critical pathways through which climate change exacerbates poverty and inequality:
These impacts are further shaped by structural socioeconomic disparities and governance inefficiencies. In Bangladesh, greenhouse gas (GHG) intensive activities predominantly benefit affluent groups who are better able to insulate themselves from climate impacts through greater access to protection and adaptation measures. In contrast, poorer and marginalised communities remain disproportionately exposed and vulnerable, often excluded from the benefits of climate interventions. This reinforces a vicious cycle in which climate change further deepens poverty, food insecurity, and social inequality.
To reverse this cycle, climate resilience must be placed at the centre of Bangladesh’s development agenda. The analysis advocates for a transformative approach that targets marginalised and intersectional groups through policies that simultaneously address poverty reduction, inequality, and climate resilience. This requires inclusive and climate-sensitive planning, effective institutional coordination, and the empowerment of local initiatives.
In Bangladesh, the approach to deal with climate change, poverty and inequality needs to cover five strategic elements:
These programmes need to be underpinned by tools such as integrated vulnerability assessments, resilience monitoring, and poverty/climate adaptation toolkits. It is vital to outline clear implementation pathways that take both short- and long-term dimensions into account, operating at national and sub-national levels, and adaptable over time.
Policy actions are required to prioritise interventions based on the severity of climate impacts and their anticipated effectiveness—particularly in climate hotspots such as coastal regions, floodplains, haors, islands, and riverbank erosion zones. Strong community participation, inter-agency coordination, and robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are essential to ensure that interventions are both effective and equitable. Additionally, evidence-based policymaking must be supported by comprehensive data on poverty, inequality, climate change, and environmental trends.
International cooperation also plays a crucial role. Addressing the climate crisis requires urgent global mitigation efforts. Low-income, climate-vulnerable countries like Bangladesh need international support through mechanisms such as the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF), as proposed at COP28. If properly implemented at the grassroots level, the LDF could become a vital instrument for achieving climate justice. Moreover, high-emission countries must take responsibility for reducing GHGs through development-friendly solutions and assist vulnerable nations in enhancing social protection, sustainable livelihoods, and resilience-building.
Bangladesh has a valuable opportunity to build long-term climate resilience and reduce the immediate impacts of climate change on poverty and inequality through inclusive, forward-looking policies. Investments that may involve high initial costs—such as renewable energy, infrastructure, urban transport, and ecosystem restoration—are essential to avoid locking into carbon-intensive development paths.
The Policy Brief conveys a clear: poverty reduction, inequality mitigation, and climate action cannot be pursued in isolation. They are intrinsically linked and must be addressed through a unified, integrated framework. With strategic policies, effective coordination, and sustained global support, Bangladesh can move from a vicious cycle of vulnerability to a virtuous cycle of resilience and inclusive development.
