This book examines the key Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) relating to environmental sustainability and provides a cutting-edge assessment of current progress with the view of achieving these goals by 2030. Within South Asia, the book pays particular attention to Bangladesh, as a country representative of emerging economies which are struggling to meet their goals. Drawing on the three pillars of sustainability, the volume addresses the following goals: Clean Water and Sanitation, Affordable and Clean Energy, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action, Life Below Water and Life on Land (Goals 6, 7, 12, 13, 14 and 15). The book examines where progress has been made and why some key targets have not been achieved or will be difficult to achieve. The chapters focus on environmental sustainability in different sectors such as agriculture, renewable energy, fisheries and aquaculture and natural resource management. The aim of this volume is to highlight key lessons and recommendations on how research in the various sectors can feed into the pathway of meeting the SDGs highlighted in this book. The analysis derived from Bangladesh can be used as a reference point for other developing nations in Asia, and globally, with a view to guiding policy for the achievement of the SGDs. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of sustainable development and climate change, as well as practitioners and policymakers involved in sustainable development and disaster management.

Bangladesh as an independent country started its journey just over forty-seven years ago. The country is full of possibilities and challenges. Bangladesh: Economic, Political and Social Issues has been organized around the economic, political and social opportunities and challenges of present Bangladesh. This book is the culmination of twelve chapters by twenty-four authors. Their extensive investigation reveals a lot about the social, political and economic context of Bangladesh. Since its inception, the Bangladesh economy is largely dependent on the agricultural sector. A good number of authors in this book cover the issue of agricultural sustainability, its achievements, challenges and potentials as well as its extension system. It also reveals the role of women in the agricultural economy. The book draws the present political state of Bangladesh in relation to its historical background. The clientelism, corruption, extremism, secularism and government system of Bangladesh has been discussed widely by another group of authors. The technological wave of the global civilization of the twenty-first century is surging in Bangladesh with industrial growth and development. The historical roles of farmers, fishers and other marginal groups are going through a harsh transformation. This book covers the changing social and economic structure of these communities. In recent years, like any other country of the world the climate of Bangladesh has changed a lot. Many adaptation interventions have been undertaken to mitigate the problem. These adaptation interventions and participatory forest (PF) management programs have been included in this book. It also moves on to the gender issue in agriculture, where a dominant Muslim normative order is prevalent as well as the considerable amount of violence faced by women.

The subject of environment economics has become an important focus of debate around the world with experts as well as ordinary citizens concluding that the environment and the economy can no longer be viewed as separate entities. As a result, contemporary environmental issues are increasingly seem from the point of view of their economics effects and their consequences for human well-being now and in the future. Environmental Economics provides a comprehensive introduction to the dynamic relationship between economics and environmental policy. The authors offer a broad overview of important issues, including the changing role of economics during a time of increasing environmental concern, the impact of markets and governmental policy, environmental protection through economic mechanisms, and a practical look at how environmental economics are played out in commercial and scientific arenas.

Based on a case study of the ready-made garments industry in Bangladesh, this book examines the complexities of introducing ethical trade practices in less developed economies as part of a supply chain in an international trade network.

Managing climate variability and change remains a key development and food security issue in Bangladesh. Despite significant investments, floods, droughts, and cyclones during the last two decades continue to cause extensive economic damage and impair livelihoods. Climate change will pose additional risks to ongoing efforts to reduce poverty. This book examines the implications of climate change on food security in Bangladesh and identifies adaptation measures in the agriculture sector using a comprehensive integrated framework. First, the most recent science available is used to characterize current climate and hydrology and its potential changes. Second, country-specific survey and biophysical data is used to derive more realistic and accurate agricultural impact functions and simulations. A range of climate risks (i.e. warmer temperatures, higher carbon dioxide concentrations, changing characteristics of floods, droughts and potential sea level rise) is considered to gain a more complete picture of potential agriculture impacts. Third, while estimating changes in production is important, economic responses may to some degree buffer against the physical losses predicted, and an assessment is made of these. Food security is dependent not only on production, but also future food requirements, income levels and commodity prices. Finally, adaptation possibilities are identified for the sector. This book is the first to combine these multiple disciplines and analytical procedures to comprehensively address these impacts. The framework will serve as a useful guide to design policy intervention strategies and investments in adaptation measures.

When thinking of the leaders of Asia who brought landmark prosperity to their respective nations from the second half of the 20th century, two leaders immediately come to mind: late Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore and Dr. Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia. Bangladesh's own Sheikh Mujibur Rahman did not have time to turn Bangladesh into a prosperous nation, but he was the architect of the Bangladesh nation, which sacrificed three million men and women, and two hundred thousand women lost dignity in a liberation war in 1971. These leaders had one thing in common, they had visions about prosperity and freedom. Singapore and Malaysia realized late Prime Minister Lee and Prime Minister Mahthir's visions in their life time. Mahathir is still living. Mujib too had a vision for the prosperity of his people. His vision was, in his words, "I want to make Bangladesh the Switzerland of Asia". In other words, Sheikh Mujib wanted to make Bangladesh a Golden Bengal, a member of the OECD nations. Since the dark days of 1975 when he was killed by assassins' bullets, the nation has been looking for opportunity to realize Mujib's visions. Finally, the opportunity came to his daughter Sheikh Hasina in 1996 and with a break of next five years at last she got momentum in 2009 for taking Bangladesh to prosperity. The incumbent government since 2009 has been doing extraordinarily well to maintain and fulfill all the requirements of a "middle income" status which was awarded in March 2018. Sheikh Hasina has recently said, "Bangladesh will achieve the goals to become a middle income nation by 2021, three years ahead of the deadline set by the World Bank. She has been working tirelessly for transforming Bangladesh into a "developed" nation by 2041. Indeed, she is a visionary too for realizing the visions of Mujib by making Bangladesh the Switzerland of Asia. Her vision 2021 is coming to an end in two years' time and it is clear now world-wide on the nation's development agenda in place to 2041, coinciding with UN agenda 2030 (Sustainable Development Goals).

This book is about understanding the value of environmental services in South Asia. It provides an overview of different environmental problems in South Asia and examines how economic valuation techniques can be used to assess these problems. It brings together multiple case studies on valuation undertaken by economists and environmental scientists from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka under the aegis of the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE). The book addresses the challenges of valuing environmental changes that are unique to developing countries. Each chapter starts with a description of an environmental problem and the valuation strategy used, followed by a discussion of estimation methods and results. It is designed to serve as a reference book for students, teachers, researchers, non-government organizations and practitioners of environmental valuation. Those interested in development and environmental economics, and natural resource management policies, will also find it useful.

This book honours Partha Dasgupta, and the field he helped establish; environment and development economics. It concerns the relationship between social systems and natural systems. Above all, it concerns the poverty-environment nexus: the complex pathways by which people become or remain poor, and resources become or remain overexploited.

The major challenges facing South Asia to achieve sustainable development are investigated, using case studies and applying new points of view in economic thought about the connection between development and the environment. After reviewing economic perspectives on development and the environment and South Asia's situation, particular issues such as depletion of natural resources and land degradation, the environmental impacts and consequences of extending markets, of technological change and property rights are examined. Environmental change and employment, income distribution and poverty, population growth and urbanisation are considered.