title: Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in Bangladesh: A Political Economy Perspective
Creators: name: Islam, Shafiqul
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: disaster risk reduction
subject: climate change adaptation
subject: Bangladesh

description: Climate-related natural disasters are increasing, leading to devastating physical, environmental and socioeconomic impacts. Among the efforts to address these impacts, disaster risk reduction (DRR) is one of the major approaches. The disaster risk reduction (DRR) approach strives for reducing disaster risk through systematic and comprehensive efforts to address the causal factors of disasters (UNISDR, 2016). Climate change is widely acknowledged for increasing the scale and intensity of disasters. Therefore, a growing body of literature stresses the necessity to link climate change adaptation (CCA) with DRR. the climate change adaptation (CCA) approach strives for adjustment to climate change stimuli or their effects, in order to reduce their adverse impacts or exploit beneficial opportunities (IPCC, 2014). DRR and CCA share common objectives in reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience. Effective linkages should help to ensure coherent, effective and efficient responses to current and future climate-related disasters. However, integrating interventions for DRR and CCA remains a challenge because these concepts originated from, and are articulated by, distinct researchers and practitioners. DRR and CCA works are often undertaken in isolation, resulting in overlapping effort and inefficient use of resources. Moreover, this is particularly problematic for resource-constrained countries, because they are constantly struggling with the challenge of scarce resources, and inconsistent arrangement of a diverse range of policies, actors, and institutions surrounding DRR and CCA. These complex challenges can be better understood from the perspective of political economy, which mainly deals with the influence of powerful decision makers, resource distribution mechanisms, and government’s interactions with stakeholders. The political economy analysis would enhance understandings of how actions and funding allocation decisions of DRR and CCA by different value-reach institutions and actors are motivated or influenced by different interests, incentives and ideas. By extension, it can also help to identify the social, political and economic factors underpinning the success of each action. Thus, taking a political economy perspective will not only improve understanding of the complexity surrounding decision making on DRR- and CCA-related policies, and different governance and planning systems, but also be useful for exploring the challenges of and solutions to facilitating the integration of both. An extensive literature review shows that a significant knowledge gap exists surrounding how DRR and CCA can be integrated in different contexts. No study has examined the political economy interplay surrounding DRR, CCA and their integration in resource-constrained least developed countries., such as Bangladesh. For all these reasons, the current research conducted an empirical investigation of the challenges of and opportunities for integrating DRR and CCA in Bangladesh from a political economy perspective. A mix of qualitative and quantitative methods was applied to the Bangladesh case study. The quantitative data from statistical reports, official documents of funding distribution, and questionnaire survey were analysed and integrated using panel data regression analysis and structural equation modeling to identify the determinants of DRR- and CCA-related funding distributions to districts of Bangladesh. The qualitative data from policy documents, government reports and 38 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with stakeholders of DRR and CCA at national, district and subdistrict levels were analysed through thematic and content analysis to explore the challenges and opportunities confronting integration of DRR and CCA. The panel data regression analysis found that some political economy characteristics: (a) the electoral cycle, and (b) number of votes received by the party in power influence CCA-related fund transfers by the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund to districts of Bangladesh. SEM identified that particular political economy factors, specifically, the power and authority, interests and incentives, institutions, values and ideas of the influential decision makers, influence decisions regarding DRR-related fund distributions in Bangladesh. These findings suggest that political economy factors will also influence integration of DRR and CCA efforts. Review of 28 DRR- and CCA-related policies revealed that significant progress has been achieved in the integration of DRR- and CCA-related policies and regulatory frameworks. However, integration of DRR and CCA is currently much less evident in environment-related policies and other sectoral policies. Interestingly, CCA-related documents significantly incorporated disaster risk, whereas current DRR policy instruments mostly focus on post-disaster impacts rather than on climate change vulnerability. From the in-depth interviews, SEM and panel data analysis, key challenges to effective DRR and CCA integration were: i) resources and funding mechanisms; ii) lack of coordination and collaboration; iii) implementation and mainstreaming; iv) scale mismatches; v) lack of effective governance; vi) political, social and cultural structures; vii) competing actors and institutions; viii) inadequate information-, communication-, and knowledge sharing; ix) lack of community involvement; x) policy gaps; and xi) difficulty in distinguishing DRR-CCA from development works. IDIs along with SEM and panel data analysis also confirmed that political economy factors—interests and incentives, institutions, and values ideas— influence the distribution of public funds of DRR and CCA, as well as selection of location and beneficiaries. Adverse use of political economy factors leads to resource control capture by elite actors, resulting in overlapping efforts and inefficient use of resources. Based on the IDIs and the other findings, key opportunities and recommendations for effective integration of DRR and CCA for national and local government and other stakeholders include: i) managing more funds and ensuring better funding mechanisms; ii) using an improved governance framework; iii) maintaining active coordination and collaboration; iv) developing innovation and adaptation; v) integrating and updating policies; vi) integrating DRR-CCA within development work; vii) involving communities and listening to local voices; viii) developing a new platform for integrating DRR-CCA; ix) using political will and leadership; x) harmony prevailing in power relations; xi) research-, information- and knowledge-sharing. The current research has contributed to the knowledge of DRR, CCA, and the integration of their efforts through investigation of a country-level case study in Bangladesh. It provides concrete examples of the issues and challenges confronting integration of DRR and CCA in Bangladesh. This research has also demonstrated the utility of examining these challenges from a political economy perspective. Further, it lays the groundwork for future research and action towards effective linking of these approaches. Finally, the findings and recommendations of this study could inform policy and practices to promote DRR-CCA integration for more efficient use of resources.