SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: FROM COMMUNITY APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad
• Chairman, Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP)
• President, Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA)

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Constructing Sustainable Development Pathway

• Sustainable development is now widely agreed to
  imply a coordinated promotion of economic,
  social, and ecological objectives, involving all
  segments of population
• These three basic pillars are entwined and are
  mutually influenced through a complex of
  feed-back relationships

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Constructing Sustainable Development Pathway
  (contd.)

• Sustainable development pathway, can, therefore,
  be constructed through an integrated approach,
  involving key elements of the three pillars

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Constructing Sustainable Development Pathway
  (contd.)

• It is, therefore, essential that for sustainable
  development (economic and social) and climate
  change communities

• Work together
• Appreciate the importance of inter-linkages and
  collectively formulate policies and processes

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Constructing Sustainable Development Pathway
  (contd.)

• The political process has also to be sensitized
  and supportive because it is the political
  process that creates the policy environment,
  institutional support, and financing arrangement
  directly as well as through private sectors by
  the appropriate incentives

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Sustainable Development in South Asia Challenges
  Faced, even without Climate Change (CC)

• SAARC countries (except the newly admitted
  Afghanistan) contain a total population of 1.4
  billion, about 22 per cent of the world total

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Sustainable Development in South Asia Challenges
  Faced, even without CC (contd.)

• But, its landmass is only 3.4 per cent of the
  world landmass
• Between 400 and 500 million people are below
  national poverty lines, accounting for about
  one-third of the total population of the region
  and about 40 per cent of the worlds total poor
  population

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Sustainable Development in South Asia Challenges
  Faced, even without CC (contd.)

• Population growth rates are still high in the
  region, which are Bangladesh (1.7) India (1.4),
  Maldives (2.4), Pakistan (2.0), Sri Lanka (0.7)
• Efforts are afoot to reduce population growth
  rate in each country, but still a long way to go
  before a stabilization can be reached

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Sustainable Development in South Asia Challenges
  Faced, even without CC (contd.)

• The countries of the region are achieving
  reasonable or even high economic growth rate,
  but, disparity has been increasing, given that
  the poor do not get their equitable shares

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Sustainable Development in South Asia Challenges
  Faced, even without CC (contd.)

• According to the latest available data (Circa
  2000), the national income share of the poorest
  10 per cent in Bangladesh, India, Nepal,
  Pakistan, and Sri Lanka from 3.4 per cent to 3.9
  per cent, while that of the richest 10 per cent
  varies from 27 per cent to 29 per cent

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Sustainable Development in South Asia Challenges
  Faced, even without CC (contd.)

• The situation has in fact worsened since 2000
• The poor are severely disadvantaged because of
  extremely low human capability (education,
  training, and health)

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Sustainable Development in South Asia Challenges
  Faced, even without CC (contd.)

• The poor suffer from extremely limited access to
  resources (land, capital, environmental
  facilities) and from political and social
  marginalization
• Moreover, there are severe gender inequalities

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Sustainable Development in South Asia Challenges
  Faced, even without CC (contd.)

• Clearly, therefore, a lot needs to be done to
  create a cohesive socio-economic-political
  environment, involving all segments of society

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Sustainable Development in South Asia Challenges
  Faced, even without CC (contd.)

• While there are sustainability problems in
  relation to economic and social development,
  environmental degradation also continues
  unabated. As a result, the natural base of
  economic growth is severely threatened

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Sustainable Development in South Asia Challenges
  Faced, even without CC (contd.)

• Severe stresses are, therefore, faced by the
  South Asian countries in relation to all aspects
  (economic, social, environmental) of sustainable
  development

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Sustainable Development in South Asia Challenges
  Faced, even without CC (contd.)

• In the Wake of Climate Change

• Climate change generally renders the natural
  systems increasingly fragile and degrades the
  conditions in which human systems operate

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Sustainable Development in South Asia Challenges
  Faced, even without CC (contd.)

• In the Wake of Climate Change (contd.)

• When climate change is superimposed on the
  persisting, even accentuating social, economic,
  and environmental problems faced, the way forward
  is extremely complex and difficult

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Sustainable Development in South Asia Challenges
  Faced, even without CC (contd.)

• In the Wake of Climate Change (contd.)

• In order to get through the interlinked deficits
  and stresses, a multi-pronged integrated approach
  is necessary to make progress towards sustainable
  development

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• WE NOW EXPLORE
• The linkages between community approaches to
  disaster (flood) management on the one hand and
  sustainable development in general and climate
  change adaptation in particular, on the other -
  based on a pilot study conducted in Bangladesh,
  India, and Nepal on Community Approaches to Flood
  Management (CAFM) during 2002-2005

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Community Approaches to Flood Management (CAFM)
  in South Asia

• The CAFM pilot project has been implemented, with
  support from WMO/GWP APFM, by
• Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP), Dhaka (two
  flood-prone locations)
• Institute for Resource management and Economic
  Development (IRMED), New Delhi (three flood-prone
  locations)
• Jalstrot Vikas Sanstha (JVS), Kathmandu (two
  flood-prone locations)
• BUP is the coordinating organization

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• CAFM in South Asia (contd.)

• The Purposes

• Avoiding flood risks through awareness building
  and community preparedness.
• Reducing losses and damages at the grassroots
  (household, public institutions, infrastructure)

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• The Purposes (contd.)

• Capacity building of the communities to face
  flood more effectively
• Facilitating the access of the communities to
  organized services from relevant agencies (local
  government, CBOs/NGOs, agencies of the central
  state government)

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• The purposes (contd.)

• Seeking to enhance congruence of micro-level
  action with macro policies (for policy,
  institutional, and resource support)
• Continuous education and capacity enhancement

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• CAFM in South Asia (contd.)

• Field Work and Flood Management Manual
  Development
• Data and information have been collected through
• Field visits/focus group discussions (FGDs)
• Participatory rural appraisals (PRAs)
• Key informants interviews

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• CAFM in South Asia (contd.)

• Field Work and Flood Management Manual
  Development (contd.)

• Based on data and information collected and
  insights gathered
• Main flood-related problems faced by the
  communities were identified
• The ways the people themselves address the
  problems identified
• Using the outcomes of these analyses and further
  discussions, as required, with the communities,
  Flood management Manual (FMM) were prepared

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• CAFM in South Asia (contd.)

• Field Work and Flood Management Manual
  Development (contd.)
• FMMs were then field-tested and wide-scale
  discussions were held with the local communities
  of the study areas
• Based on the results of those field tests and
  discussions and further analysis, FMMs were
  revised
• A synthesis of the three country-manuals was
  finally prepared

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Sustainable Development The Way Forward

• From sustainable development, people have to be
  empowered through
• improvement in their economic status and
• enhancement of their social development on one
  hand, while on the other
• improvement of their resilience and capacity to
  face natural disasters, which are likely to be
  more severe and more frequent due to climate
  change, more effectively

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Climate Change in South Asia

• Parts of South Asia are at the forefront of
  climate change, involving both natural and human
  systems (IPCC 2001), for example

• Coastal and low-lying areas due to increased
  precipitation and floods, storm surges, and
  sea-level rises widespread water-borne and
  vector-borne diseases
• Severe droughts in parts of India, Pakistan, and
  Afghanistan but also in other countries
  heat-related diseases.

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Climate Change in South Asia (contd.)

• Glaciers in the Himalayas are retreating with
  increasing melting due to global warming. This
  process will increase dry season flows and
  sediment loads in the Himalayas rivers in the
  short run. Over longer run, dry season flows in
  the rivers will decrease, with consequent
  economic, social, and environment problems

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Climate Change in South Asia (contd.)

• Adverse impact on the agriculture (crop, fishery,
  forestry, and livestock), industry, navigation
• The poor and the disadvantaged, who have
  extremely limited economic capacity, and often
  live in marginal areas are liable to suffer the
  most

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• CAFM and Climate Change

• Climate change issues were not included in the
  CAFM exercise
• But, people have shown keen awareness that severe
  floods are occurring more frequently in recent
  times

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• From CAFM to Climate Change Adaptation

• The Manuals have generated the following outputs
  for pre-flood, during-flood, and post-flood
  stages
• Lists of challenges faced
• Lists of activities the people themselves
  undertake to manage floods
• Lists of activities on which people need capacity
  improvement, and the ways of achieving that
  capacity improvement

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• From CAFM to Climate Change Adaptation (contd.)

• The Manuals (contd.)
• Training, liaison with other local high level
  agencies are envisaged
• And a key proposal is the setting up of Community
  Flood Management Committees (CFMCs) in
  cooperation with the local government
  institutions (Union Parishad in Bangladesh and
  Panchayet in India and Nepal). The members of the
  committee are drawn from various walks of life
  and sensitized and trained as required, by a
  facilitating organization

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• From CAFM to Climate Change Adaptation (contd.)

• The Manuals (contd.)
• The CFMC will plan, facilitate, organize training
  programmes, and undertake other community-level
  activities, facilitating by a relevant
  local/national institution, at pre-, during, and
  post-flood stages

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• From CAFM to Climate Change Adaptation (contd.)

• The manuals were implemented, obviously,
  including setting up of CFMCs and training
  programmes conducted, in
• two areas in Bangladesh, two areas in Nepal, and
  one area in India and found to be very
  beneficial
• Although, the implementation has been very
  limited, the efficacy of the approach seems
  broadly validated. Wide-scale replication is
  needed

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• From CAFM to Climate Change Adaptation (contd.)

• Once the capacity of the communities are, thus,
  enhanced to manage floods or other natural
  disasters, a major step will have been achieved
  towards adaptation to climate change
• It will be necessary to incorporate climate risk
  assessments in the process, for which linkages
  with national and international sources of
  climate change information will be needed to be
  tapped
• Also, linkages with national and international
  sources of assistance will be required

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM COMMUNITY
APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• Thank you