Developed nations create the lion’s share of the world’s heat-trapping emissions, yet developing countries are invariably the first to face the growing consequences of a warming world.  It’s an unfair and unsustainable situation. But a possible solution has been put in motion by the British government, which hopes to “climate proof” the vulnerable nation of Bangladesh.

The low-lying south Asian nation, a former British colony, has been hard hit by climate patterns in recent years.  Despite some novel solutions to the problems this poses, the constant erosion and threat of land loss have had a tremendous impact on the nation’s already struggling economy.  As the UK’s International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander puts it, “Climate change is today's crisis, not tomorrow's risk, and is already affecting millions of people in Bangladesh

So, to the tune of $133 million, the UK government has begun a program of assistance to the beleaguered tropical nation. The idea isn’t simply to pick up the pieces and pay for restoration, but to fund a preparedness project. Rather than repair damaged schools, the funding will go to refitting school buildings on elevated platforms, to give them a better chance at evading destructive flood waters—an innovation seen in some houses in hurricane-prone regions of the US.  Other water-damage mitigations include proposals such as improving costal defenses, raising protective levies near urban areas and croplands, and distributing seed stocks that can better tolerate the salt and other chemicals laid down by the frequent inundations.  

These actions mark something of a change in direction for climate-mitigating efforts from more developed nations.  Previous strategies have consisted largely of pay-to-preserve efforts, in which developing nations received money for leaving natural areas untouched, or limiting their carbon emissions. This project marks a much more hands-on approach, aiming to reduce the impacts of corruption while creating a lasting impact on the people the funding was intended to protect in the first place. 

That having been said, previous efforts to fund development of climate change resources in the world’s poorest countries have largely been failures. The UN has two funds to help nations suffering the climate change/low GDP double-whammy, but little has been donated to them since their creation. Poverty-combating NGO Oxfam estimates that sums upwards of 50 billion dollars a year will be required to help poorer nations combat the negative effects of global warming. 

Still, this hand-up, not hand-out, approach represents an interesting new direction for aiding developing countries, and the improved stability it offers the Bangladeshi economy may seed more locally-driven, locally-funded efforts to combat the effects of harmful climate change in the near future.

Photo part of the image collection of the International Rice Research Institute