Climate resilient agriculture key for sustainable development: ICC Bangladesh

Climate change reduces agricultural productivity and leads to greater instability in crop production, disrupting the global food supply and resulting in food and nutritional insecurity, according to the International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh (ICCB).

Promoting climate-smart agricultural practices in Bangladesh is crucial to building resilience among smallholder farmers, adapting to climate change, and contributing to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, said a press release.

In Bangladesh, agriculture plays a vital role in the economy, contributing 11.50% to the GDP and employing 41% of the population, directly or indirectly. However, agricultural productivity in Bangladesh remains lower than in neighbouring South Asian countries.

Bangladesh, while responsible for only 0.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, is highly vulnerable to climate change due to factors like high population density, poverty, and reliance on climate-sensitive sectors.

A study by Standard Chartered Bank identifies Bangladesh as one of the countries requiring substantial adaptation investments to address climate change risks. By investing $1.2 billion in adaptation by 2030, Bangladesh could prevent projected damages and lost GDP growth of $11.6 billion, providing substantial returns.

In contrast, without a minimum investment of $30 billion, the featured markets, including Bangladesh, are projected to face damages and lost GDP growth of $377 billion.

Agriculture is a major contributor to climate change and is highly sensitive to temperature changes and extreme weather events. Even a limited temperature rise of 1.5°C can have a substantial impact.

The World Bank reports that 690 million people are hungry, with the challenge of feeding an estimated 9 billion people by 2050 becoming increasingly difficult.

In Asia and the Pacific, climate change is affecting agriculture and food production significantly, threatening food security and Sustainable Development Goals. Food system sustainability can be improved by adopting sustainable agricultural practices, promoting sustainable diets, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions across the food supply chain.

Moreover, climate change increases the risk for the most vulnerable countries and people by affecting livelihoods and income in rural areas; marine, coastal terrestrial, and inland ecosystems.

The negative impacts of climate change are already being felt, in the form of increasing temperatures, weather variability, shifting agro-ecosystem boundaries, invasive crops and pests, and more frequent extreme weather events.