Bangladesh is facing increasing environmental problems with growing emissions of methane. Methane is highly potent greenhouse gas; although it has less residence time in the atmosphere compared to carbon dioxide, it has greater global warming potential. As the effects of climate change are increasingly felt, including rising temperatures and catastrophic weather, knowing the amount of methane being released into the atmosphere is of critical importance.
Bangladesh has been found to emit 9.5 million metric tonnes of methane annually, which is attributed largely to agricultural production, waste in landfills and animal husbandry. Farming in Bangladesh produces vast amounts of methane mainly from flooded rice cultivation. As large cities in the country continue to expand, ever-larger landfills house an ever-increasing volume of decomposing garbage, which also produces methane, it’s80 times more effective as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas.
One must remember that the industrial emissions of richer countries are much higher, but their capacity to withstand the effects of climate change is greater than that of Bangladesh. For a country that already suffers from occasional floods and cyclones, high methane emissions pose an even greater threat.
Every year, 38 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions permeate the atmosphere, threatening Bangladesh’s very capacity to withstand a changing climate. These emissions are not just abstraction – they have real-world impacts. With emissions of methane, for example, expected to rise as a result of unpredictable weather, the country’s farmers are facing real challenges to their agricultural productivity.
Food security is being threatened in rural settings throughout the world as farming is a major method of sustenance within these communities. Once a natural disaster strikes, not only do crops collapse, but the structures used to transport these crops are destroyed as well. As a result, food reaches the end of its lifespan and becomes inaccessible to the people who need it most.
Livelihoods in rural communities are increasingly under threat from climate change and from the high levels of methane emissions associated with many forms of farming and livestock. For many families, farming and livestock production represents a vital source of income to feed their families and enable them to meet other basic needs.
Methane emissions from Bangladesh, potentially catastrophic to the country’s climate resilience, food security and rural livelihoods, can be reduced by implementing effective policy combinations. Bangladesh faces a tough challenge with methane emissions, which significantly contribute to climate change. However, there are effective policy integration strategies that can help lower these emissions while also boosting climate resilience. Three key dimensions need to be considered when integrating policy relevant to reducing methane emissions: government, local level and international policies and solutions.
The Bangladesh government is working to reduce methane emissions through the promotion of several sustainable agricultural practices. Improved rice cultivation practices, for example, can reduce methane emissions while maintaining crop yields in the face of climate change.
Communities at the local level are also major players in curtailing methane emissions, and many villages are operating their own biogas programs to provide energy through waste management. These programs are owned and operated by rural communities who build biogas facilities to channel the methane produced from manure and organic waste into energy for cooking and lighting. In rural Rangpur & Dinajpur, for example, a tried and tested model for independent energy exists, and communities are empowered to self manage their energy needs whilst addressing greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition to the domestic efforts required in Bangladesh to mitigate emissions of methane, there is also an important international dimension to consider. United Nations and NGO supported projects, which would operate within the country, could receive technical and financial assistance to develop methodology to reduce emissions of methane in Bangladesh. For example a partnership project could facilitate the development of improved waste management systems such as those underway in Dhaka South City Corporation, where segregation of waste at source is encouraged with a view to recycle or compost organic solids thus preventing them entering landfills where they can produce methane.
There is also something deeper at stake. Methane reduction is often framed as a technical necessity. But in Bangladesh, it is equally a question of dignity and equity. The communities living near landfills, the workers handling unmanaged waste, the farmers facing degraded soils-they bear the hidden costs of a system that treats resources as disposable.
A zero-waste approach begins to correct that imbalance. It brings value back into materials, reduces health risks, and reconnects people with the cycles that sustain them.So, the opportunity here is not only environmental-it is social and economic.The science is clear.
The solutions are available. The cost of delay is rising.
One approach the government could look into is increasing the use of biogas digesters. Biogas digesters are systems designed to capture the methane that emanates from agricultural and animal waste and use that captured gas to produce energy. There are already successful models of this approach in effect in the Rangpur &Khulna division and by emulating those models the government could establish the use of biogas digesters in rural households as its mission. This would lead to a decrease in the emission of methane in rural areas and establish rural people’s access to energy.
In addition to the above, there is a need for public awareness campaigns to inform the public of the need to control methane emissions, particularly from the agricultural sector. Information can be disseminated on how individuals can encourage voluntary changes in behaviour to reduce emissions. Information, and resources to manage pig manure on farms can encourage farmers to adopt cleaner methods of production. Conducting workshops and community meetings, and sharing success stories and best practices.
Integration of these policies is essential for sustainable development in Bangladesh. These approaches require continued financing: support from both local and foreign sources. The approaches will be effective if government, communities and international partners work in partnership and share best practices and lessons learned.
As part of its efforts to fight climate change, Bangladesh needs to switch to sustainable agriculture, increase use of biogas and get rid of the messy habit of throwing waste into the environment. And it needs to do them all promptly. It will also require continued investment in climate change and a greater awareness about the looming threat among its people.
The writer is an environmental scientist, journalist and Social Justice advocate, involved in climate and plastic treaty negotiations