Paper short abstract:

Bangladesh is a world leader in adopting mainstreaming and climate-compatible development policies. How is it managing the relationship between reducing local social vulnerabilities, adapting to climate change, and minimising ecological harm?

Paper long abstract:

Climate change (CC) is a product of historical and contemporary patterns of uneven commercial and capitalist development and most developing countries continue to follow capitalist or market-based economic policies. In an attempt to accommodate CC into development planning, several developing countries have adopted 'mainstreaming' policies (e.g. climate-compatible development, climate-resilient development and climate-friendly development) that seek to build resilient communities and raise living standards with limited or no ecological damage. This paper examines such policies in Bangladesh, with reference to other selected countries, and assesses their strengths and limitations in meeting both climate change and development objectives. It has the following aims:

1. To examine the diverse historical and pre-CC bases and causes of social and ecological vulnerability in Bangladesh;

2. To evaluate if and how current development-cum-CC policies are addressing such vulnerabilities;

3. To locate the Bangladesh example in broader academic and policy-related debates on transformative change in the relationship between CC and development planning.

The paper draws on primary and secondary multi-disciplinary research in Southwest Bangladesh and other parts of the country. Bangladesh is the chosen case study as it plays a leading global role in CC policy development.