The role of local government in environmental governance and sustainable development: An assessment from rural Bangladesh
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47264/idea.lassij/10.1.3Keywords:
Climate resilience, Environmental governance, Local government, Citizen participation, Fiscal decentralization, Sustainable developmentAbstract
Bangladesh has ranked among the most vulnerable in the world where the survival of millions of people and possibility of a sustainable development is intrinsically linked to the health of its environment. Focusing on Union Parishad as the sole unit of rural administration, the research attempts to analyze the role and power of the said institution, the systemic pressures limiting its performance using the mixed method approach. The findings suggest a profound conundrum. While there is near unanimity among the rural communities that environmental degradation, taking the forms of floods, river erosion and salinity, is a very threatening hazard, the fact is that the study also shows deep disillusionment with those institutions that are supposed to protect them. The study identifies a near-total lack of community engagement (81.5%) driven by chronic funding shortages, corruption, and political interference. To resolve this, a paradigm shift toward fiscal decentralization, through a dedicated 'Climate Resilience Fund' and mandatory 'Ward Shavas,' is required to restore public trust and localize the SDGs. The paper moves towards a conclusion that this is not because of lack of interest of the citizens, but a broken system of governance.
References
Abed, S. (2021). We are in a global state of emergency on extreme poverty. Berlin: IDN-In Depth News.
Ahmed, B. & Islam, M. T. (2012). Role of disaster management committee in Post Disaster response management: Rural Bangladesh viewpoint. Journal of South Asia Disaster Studies, 6(14).
Ahsan, R., Kellett, J. & Karuppannan, S. (2014). Climate induced migration: lessons from Bangladesh. The International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses, 5(2).
Ali, S., Khan, M. & Ahmed, A. B. (2019). Assessing disaster risk reduction in Bangladesh: progress and challenges. Journal of Environmental Science and Natural Resources, 12(2), pp. 39-49.
Asaduzzaman, M. (2008). Governance in practice: decentralization and people’s participation in the local government of Bangladesh. Tampere.
CDMP (2014). Upazilas disaster management plan. Dhaka: comprehensive disaster management Programme.
DDM (2012). Urban disaster risks in Bangladesh. Dhaka.
Faisal, M. Z. (2025). Elderly population, climate vulnerability and social security: perspective of Bangladesh coastal zones. Social Sciences, 14(5), pp. 500-510.
Faisal, M. Z. (2025). Localizing SDGs in Bangladesh Post-COVID-19: policy responses and governance challenges. Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies, 51(10), pp. 1361-1371.
Faisal, M. Z. & Ahmed, F. (2019). Promoting e-Governance in public service delivery: the case of union digital centres of Bangladesh. Asian Studies, 38, 85-94.
Faisal, M. Z., Uddin, M. S. & Islam, M. T. (2026). Strengthening environmental governance for sustainable development: appraising the impact of local government in rural Bangladesh. London School of Economics and Political Science, 441.
GED (2012). Poverty, Environment and Climate Mainstreaming. Dhaka: General Economics Division.
GEF Evaluation Office and MoFA (2009). Evaluation of the operation of the Least Developed Countries Fund for adaptation to climate change. Amsterdam: Evaluation Department of the Government of Denmark.
Germanwatch (2021). Global climate risk Index 2021, Bonn: Germanwatch.
GIU (2023). SDG Localization: Bangladesh Model. Dhaka: Governance Innovation Unit, Prime Minister's Office.
GoB (2008). The standing orders on disaster (revised), Dhaka: DMB.
Haque, A. K. M. M., Ullah, S. M. A., Islam, M. T. & Faisal, M. Z. (2023). Environmentally sustainable water supply in Bangladesh: rhetoric or reality. In: W. Leal Filho, et al. eds. SDGs in the Asia and Pacific Region: Implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals – Regional Perspectives. Cham: Springer.
Haque, A. K., Mahmudul, M., Ullah, S., Akram, M., Islam, M. T., Faisal, M. Z. & Salehin, M. A. (2025). Climate Change Adaptations in Urban Local Government in Bangladesh. In: G. Onyango & I. Jamil, eds. Routledge Handbook of Public Policy in the Global South. 1st ed. London: Routledge.
ILO (2023). ILO Youth Country Briefs, Geneva: International Labour Organization.
IPCC (2012). Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation. A special report of working groups I and II of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. New York: Cambridge University Press.
IPCC (2013). Sea Level Change. In: climate change 2013: The physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Islam, M. T. (2018). How does local government cope with disaster in Bangladesh?. LSE South Asia Centre.
Islam, M. T. (2020). Bangladesh: in quest of a decentralised local representative bodies. GIZ Urbanet.
Islam, M. T. (2020). Bangladesh: towards the localisation of the sustainable development goals. LSE South Asia Centre.
Islam, M. T. (2020). Combating COVID-19 in rural Bangladesh: the role of the local government. Singapore: NUS Institute of South Asian Studies.
Islam, M. T. (2020). How UN defends global peace, prosperity amid COVID-19 pandemic?. Kathmandu: Khabarhub.
Islam, M. T. (2020e). State of human security in rural Bangladesh amidst COVID pandemic. Kathmandu: Khabarhub.
Islam, M. T. (2020). Towards the localisation of the SDGs. Dhaka: The Daily Star.
Islam, M. T. (2021). Human insecurity: climate, health, and COVID-19 in Rural South Asia. SOAS, University of London.
Islam, M. T. (2022). Localizing climate change communication: need effective government in Bangladesh. Dhaka: The Bangladesh Today.
Haque, A. K. M. M., Ullah, S. M. A., Islam, M. T. & Faisal, M. Z. (2023). Environmentally sustainable water supply in Bangladesh: rhetoric or reality. In: W. Leal Filho, et al. eds. SDGs in the Asia and Pacific Region: Implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals – Regional Perspectives. Springer.
Islam, M. T. & Faisal, M. Z. (2024). Mitigating the Socio-Economic Impact of COVID-19 : The prospect of digital centre-led resilience building for Rohingya host communities in Bangladesh. In: M. Ali, R. Akhtar & M. T. Islam, eds. COVID-19 in South Asia: Society, Economics and Politics. UK: Routledge.
Islam, M. T. & Faisal, M. Z. (2025). The role of standing committees in local governance: challenges and opportunities for development in Rural Bangladesh. In: D. P. Chhetri, P. K. Datta, R. L. S. Fernando & A. Shameem, eds. Making Democratic Decentralization Work in South Asia. s.l.:Springer Cham.
Islam, M. T., Karim, M. R. & Faisal, M. Z. (2024). Disaster management for sustainable development: rural Bangladesh. In: W. Leal Filho, et al. eds. SDGs in the Asia and Pacific Region. Implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals – Regional Perspectives. Cham: Springer.
Local Government Division (2009). Local Government (Union Parishads) Act, 2009, Dhaka: Government of Bangladesh.
Panday, P. K. (2011). Local government system in Bangladesh: How far is it decentralised?. Journal of Local Self Government, 9(3), pp. 205-230.
Saadat, S. Y. (2022). Covid-19 And Sdg 11: Making cities liveable, Dhaka: The Daily Star.
The Climate Reality Project (2025). How the climate crisis is impacting Bangladesh. The Climate reality Project.
UN (2017). The sustainable development goals report 2017. UN HQ.
UNICEF (2020). Tackling the COVID-19 social and economic crisis in Bangladesh , Dhaka: UNICEF.
UNICEF (2025). 35 million children in Bangladesh had schooling disrupted by Climate Crises in 2024. Dhaka: UNICEF.
World Bank (2022). Bangladesh Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) : Bangladesh, Washington, DC: World Bank.
World Bank (2025). Bangladesh faces health and economic risks from rising temperature. Washington, D.C: World Bank Group.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Md. Zaki Faisal, Md. Shihab Uddin
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Please click here for details about the LASSIJ's Licensing and Copyright policies.
