The future of social protection in Bangladesh: Integrating climate resilience into social safety nets

From devastating cyclones to relentless flooding and creeping salinity, Bangladesh's vulnerability is the high price of its geographical blessings. At a time when global economies wobble under political uncertainties, Bangladesh's social protection system stands as a crucial lifeline for millions.

But here's the kicker: traditional social safety nets, while essential, are no longer enough unless they evolve to meet mounting climate risks head-on.

With the advent of climate inequality, Bangladesh continues to weather the first wave of climate change impacts and coupled with the belligerent economic environment, the country is facing the maintenance and implementation challenges of a strong social protection. 

In the 2025-26 fiscal year, Bangladesh has allocated a robust Tk1,16,731 crore-nearly 15% of the national budget-to social protection programs.

This sizeable investment touches the lives of millions, spanning cash allowances for the elderly, widows, and disabled, food-security programs, and employment schemes across more than 114 government-run initiatives.

The government's push towards digitisation and integration of these sprawling programs via the Dynamic Social Registry is a promising step, enhanced further by the World Bank's recent $200 million support aimed at modernising and making these safety nets more inclusive.

Yet, despite this considerable progress and funding, our social safety net system faces glaring challenges such as fragmented administration, political interference distorting resource distribution, duplication of efforts, and inadequate targeting that leaves many vulnerable households out in the cold.

Most critically, these programs remain static, ill-equipped to flex and scale swiftly when calamities strike. A flood, cyclone, or sudden drought can sweep away months of hard-earned income overnight. Our current system doesn't respond dynamically enough to cushion these shocks.

Why does this matter now? Because Bangladesh is not just grappling with usual economic cycles. Bangladesh is on the frontline of climate change. The World Risk Report consistently ranks Bangladesh among the world's most climate-vulnerable countries, a reality underscored by rising sea levels that threaten to submerge vast tracts of land, erratic floods, and saline intrusion that destroys fertile soil.

These environmental disruptions deepen poverty and insecurity, pushing millions into crisis. Furthermore, these impacts are immeasurable and happen in disproportionate factions which is undoing our nation's good work of pushing out poverty.

Climate induced poverty is slowly becoming the leading cause of poverty measures. If our social protection systems remain reactive rather than climate-smart, they risk becoming mere band-aids instead of proactive shields.

We can draw valuable lessons from abroad and apply our own local lens on the matter Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Program goes beyond cash transfers investing in community assets that help people survive droughts. Kenya's Hunger Safety Net Programme leverages sophisticated early warning systems to trigger emergency payments ahead of famine threats.

The Philippines pre-designs typhoon-response cash grants, automatically releasing payments based on weather forecasts. South Africa experiments with climate-adaptive grants that encourage environmental stewardship alongside assistance.

Although, Bangladesh has proven its prowess in social intervention programs, the same needs to be adopted for climate change. Our system wrestles with budgetary rigidity, disallowing emergency reallocations when disasters hit.

In addition, we face technology implementation challenges in our social protection systems. Our vast but segmented social protection portfolio lacks unified monitoring and real-time data systems necessary for rapid scale-up.

Political pressures often skew who benefits, leaving limited access for many climate-affected families. Furthermore, while rural vulnerabilities receive some focus, rising risks for urban poor including flood-induced displacement in Dhaka's sprawling slums-remain largely unaddressed. Furthermore, climate change led diseases also flare up medical costs further adding to the woes.

To leap ahead, our social safety nets must become agile, anticipatory, and climate informed. We need a national social protection strategy explicitly designed to deliver climate resilience outcomes.

Investing in integrated data systems is non-negotiable. We need to implement Dynamic digital beneficiary registries but linking these with satellite weather data, flood models, and socio-economic indicators. This fusion would enable targeted, scalable cash transfers automatically triggered by climatic events, and in some cases, we can provide other forms of targeted assistance.

Moreover, social protection must combine immediate cash assistance with longer-term resilience-building activities such as livelihood training, asset-building, and ecosystem restoration.

Budgetary frameworks should embed flexible contingency funds that allow rapid emergency response rather than rigid line-item allocations that delay action. Crucially, transparent governance reforms are essential to ensure resources reach the most vulnerable, not just the politically connected.

The future holds both promise and peril. Bangladesh's journey toward climate-smart social protection could become a global beacon of innovation, inclusivity, and resilience in the face of adversity.

Also, Bangladesh needs to pioneer climate resilience and form meaningful partnerships with nations that are facing the same challenges while enacting knowledge and resource transfers to ensure a unified counter to this snowballing climate change led difficulties. The choice before us is stark: adapt or pay the price of inaction.

The authors are MSS students of the Department of Economics, East West University.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.