COVID-19 and Climate Change: Challenges to Resilience in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is at a tipping point when both the pandemic of COVID-19 and climate changes exposed vulnerabilities in health, social protection, and disaster risk management systems. This paper discusses the lessons that the pandemic has taught us about vulnerabilities that climate change will intensify, especially the disadvantaged group of population. It calls for a broad policy framework for reforms in social protection, disaster preparedness and climate resilience, drawing upon the lesson learnt from the pandemic. Drawing on these lessons, Bangladesh can build systems that are more able to cope with present and future challenges, and in a more inclusive manner.