Challenges of Climate change of Bangladesh

The climate of Bangladesh is influenced by monsoon climate and characterized by high temperature, heavy rainfall, often-excessive humidity and marked seasonal variations. Although more than half the area is north of the Tropics, the effect of the Himalayan mountain chain is such as to make the climate more or less tropical throughout the year. The climate is controlled primarily by summer and winter winds, and partly by pre-monsoon (March to May) and post-monsoon (late October to November) circulation. The Southwest Monsoon originates over the Indian Ocean, and carries warm, moist and unstable air. The easterly Trade Winds are also warm, but relatively drier. The Northeast Monsoon comes from the Siberian Desert, retaining most of its pristine cold, and blows over the country, usually in gusts, during dry winter months.

Poverty and Inequality challenges of Bangladesh

Poverty reduction has been a priority objective of development of Bangladesh since its emergence as an independent nation in 1971. Starting from the First Five Year Plan (1973-1978) which emphasized poverty reduction through employment generation, all development plans as well as the two poverty reduction strategy papers recognized the importance of poverty reduction and developed policies and strategies for poverty reduction. Consequently, significant reduction in poverty has taken place in the last four decades – the incidence of poverty as measured by headcount rate declined from more than 80 percent in 1973-74 to 31.5 percent in 2010 (BBS, Report on the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2010).

Population Challenges of Bangladesh

Bangladesh is the 8th largest country in the world with a population of 142.3 million in 2011 (BBS, Population and Housing Census 2011, Preliminary Results) living in an area of 147,570 sq km. The population density of the country is 964 per sq km that makes it the most populous country in the world with the exception of island nations/territories such as Singapore and Hong Kong. Early policy makers of the country identified population as the number one problem of the country and devised policies and strategies to control population growth. Consequently, the population growth rate declined from 2.48 percent per annum in 1974 to 1.34 percent per annum in 2011. TFR has decreased from 5.04 in 1981 to 2.15 per woman in 2009 with 2.28 in rural and 1.65 in urban areas (BBS, Report on Sample Vital Registration System – 2009). These are commendable achievements for a least developed country like Bangladesh but it is far from what the country needs to achieve for sustainability particularly social sustainability.

Challenges to Sustainable Development of Bangladesh

1 Population

Bangladesh is the 8^th largest country in the world with a population of 142.3 million in 2011 (BBS, Population and Housing Census 2011, Preliminary Results) living in an area of 147,570 sq km. The population density of the country is 964 per sq km that makes it the most populous country in the world with the exception of island nations/territories such as Singapore and Hong Kong. Early policy makers of the country identified population as the number one problem of the country and devised policies and strategies to control population growth. Consequently, the population growth rate declined from 2.48 percent per annum in 1974 to 1.34 percent per annum in 2011.