Climate adaptation investment can deliver 10-fold returns for Bangladesh

Positive climate action at scale has never been more urgent. For Bangladesh, a low-lying and densely populated country which finds itself on the frontlines of climate change, this need is more pressing than others. Our summers are becoming hotter, rainfall untimely, monsoon irregular. Increasing frequency, intensity and recurrence of floods are affecting lives, as is rising sea levels and salinity intrusion along the coast.

In recent years, the world has largely rallied around the need to limit global warming to 1.5°C in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Hundreds of billions of dollars of 'mitigation finance' have been mobilised and directed at the energy transition and technologies to reduce carbon emissions. For emerging markets, for many of whom are facing extreme climate events at an increasing frequency, there is a more pressing need for climate adaptation.

The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that developing countries require $160-340 billion per year to adapt to increasing climate impacts. This initial amount is projected to increase to $315-565 billion by 2050. Even if this funding is attained, it is a fraction of what is truly required. Delivering enough funding necessitates a shift in strategy – the sort of shift that inspires significant collaboration between governments, central banks, commercial banks, multilateral development banks, institutional investors, and other financial actors.

Examples of climate adaptation projects include the creation of coastal barrier protection solutions for areas vulnerable to flooding, the development of drought-resistant crops, and early-warning systems against pending natural disasters. The Paris Agreement, the Green Climate Fund, which pledges a 50:50 balance, and the latest Glasgow Climate Pact all stipulate a balance between mitigation and adaptation. Despite this, the bias for mitigation is evident in private, bilateral, and multilateral funding.

Standard Chartered recently conducted a study titled The Adaption Economy, which assesses how 10 emerging economies are disproportionately impacted by climate change and builds a clear case for early intervention to prevent economic and social losses. The report reveals that, by investing $1.2 billion in adaptation by 2030, Bangladesh could prevent projected damages and lost GDP growth of $11.6 billion – nearly 10 times that amount.

Across the entire study, without a minimum investment of $30 billion, the 10 featured markets face projected damages and lost GDP growth of $377 billion. On average, every dollar spent on adaptation this decade would generate $12 of economic benefit for the 10 markets.

Private sector involvement is essential to meet the huge investment need. Adaptation – particularly in the most vulnerable, low-income regions – often brings public benefits rather than opportunities for private financial return. However, a good business case can be established through blended finance structures. Substantive changes to the existing regulatory framework can also further enable resource mobilisation.

Through sustainable community engagement projects, the private sector can also make direct contributions.

Standard Chartered Bangladesh and Friendship implemented a comprehensive environmental project for 750 residents of Ghughumari char, a remote sedimentary island in Kurigram. Under the framework of this project, the previously off-grid island has been supported with a 54-kilowatt solar microgrid, 60 tube wells, and a tree plantation initiative.

This effort has been designed with adaptation in mind, it is flood-tolerant and can be relocated in response to extreme climate events. The tube wells ensure access to safe and clean drinking water while the tree plantation initiative helps to arrest soil erosion.

The scale of the challenge ahead is immense. But the stakes are high, and our time is limited. We have no choice but to act now.

The author is head of corporate affairs, brand and marketing at Standard Chartered Bangladesh