Climate change will make inequality worse

A recently released UN global report on climate change resilience has brought to the fore again the critical state that countries like Bangladesh are in, as far as environmental and socio- economic impacts are concerned. Climate change remains one of the major threats to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the report has reiterated. One of the main thrusts of the SDGs is to reduce inequality in countries by making development inclusive. But with the increase in natural disasters in countries that are already struggling with poverty, there will be more people impoverished and greater inequality. 

The study, in fact, points out that 95 percent of the poor coastal people in Bangladesh are adversely affected by climate change which makes poverty reduction an even bigger challenge for the country. 

An estimated 400,000 people relocate to Dhaka every year from other parts of the country. 70 percent of slum dwellers have relocated to Dhaka because of some environmental shock. This vicious cycle of urban poverty and inequality becomes almost impossible to break.

Thus the need to boost efforts to increase people's resilience to climate change. The UN report states that so far the international resources given for this have been inadequate. 

Governments of the most vulnerable countries must be supported with adequate funds (as promised at the Paris Agreement) that will be channelled to mitigate climate change impacts and help countries cope with the huge economic and humanitarian challenges that they will face. 

As climate change will affect food security, adaptation policies must be made and implemented including more efficient growing of crops, developing new variety of crops (e.g. flood resistant paddy) and better water management techniques. Countries must also create more jobs for people to reduce inequality, which in turn, will help to mitigate climate change impacts.