Question
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what strategies his Department has to ensure protection for the poorest communities in Bangladesh who will be affected by climate change.
Answer
The impact of climate change on Bangladesh from rising sea levels will be gradual; felt over the next 50-100 years. However, there is already evidence of more severe and frequent flooding and droughts, as well as coastal salt-water intrusion, negatively affecting poor people.DFID’s draft Country Assistance Plan (2007-12) aims to help Bangladesh respond in a timelier and more effective way to acute emergencies and climate change. DFID is helping the Government of Bangladesh’s Climate Change Cell develop different strategies to adapt to climate change, including impacts of migration and resettlement on poor people. It has helped 137 poor communities develop their own risk reduction strategies.DFID is also helping very poor people living on Chars river islands, which are vulnerable to flooding. We have assisted 107,000 Chars dwellers to raise their houses above the flood line. We have transferred portable assets (such as cows) to almost 11,000 extremely poor Chars women, helping them to make better and more informed decisions about where and when to migrate, together with a compensation grant to those who migrate due to more acute flooding.DFID will provide £115 million over the next five years to support the very poorest people living in areas most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. By September 2007, it will develop an action plan to develop further activities, including protection of the poorest people living in the most vulnerable zones in urban areas.