Bangladesh incurred a staggering loss of $24 billion in potential income in 2024 due to heat-related productivity losses, according to the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report.
The national launch of the report was held on Thursday at the BRAC Centre in Dhaka.
The event was jointly organised by the Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research at BRAC University, the Lancet Countdown, and the Climate Change and Health Promotion Unit under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
A keynote paper was presented by environmental economist Shouro Dasgupta, a senior fellow at the Greentham Research Institute at the London School of Economics.
The report revealed that, in 2024, the average person in Bangladesh experienced 28.8 heatwave days. Of these, 13.2 days were attributed to human-induced climate change. Additionally, 225,000 deaths were linked to anthropogenic air pollution.
The report also highlighted a significant rise in the climate suitability for dengue transmission, with an increase of 90 per cent in 2023 compared to the 1951-1960 baseline period. This underscores the growing health risks posed by climate change in Bangladesh.
Professor Ainun Nishat, emeritus professor at BRAC University, emphasised that future health risks related to climate change should be anticipated based on projections, rather than relying solely on historical data. He further noted that the rise in pest attacks and seasonal shifts must be considered as new dimensions of climate risk in the agricultural sector, as these factors also threaten nutrition and public health.
The event also featured remarks from Nayoka Martinez B盲ckstr枚m, first secretary at the Embassy of Sweden in Dhaka; Shibbir Ahmed Osmani, joint secretary at the Ministry of Health; Mirza Shawkat Ali, director of the Department of Environment; and Farzana Misha, associate professor at the James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University.
The discussion was moderated by Iqbal Kabir, director at the Directorate General of Health Services.
