Reducing the Risks of Transboundary Climate Change Impacts in India and Bangladesh: Options for Cooperation

Risks and vulnerabilities of climate change impacts are increasing regardless of adaptation and mitigation efforts. Borderless climate change has cascading effects that strain transboundary resources and countries’ response capacity. Transborder climate risks are climate change-triggered events that originate at a specific location, and the area of origin shares its impacts with its immediate or distant neighbouring countries or regions via multiple pathways. Bangladesh and India are confronting cross-border climate change impacts on shared natural resources like Trans- Himalayan River water resources and Sundarbans Mangrove Forest. The occurrence of natural disasters in Bangladesh leads to cross-border migration to India, which blurs their territorial boundaries and incites tensions between them. This paper argues that adaptation without borders is mandatory for effective risk reduction. This study contextualises cooperation and coordination of shared resources management and adaptation beyond a single government’s effort at the national level. This study evaluates how transboundary cooperation in adaptation could solve climate risk emergencies and avoid conflicts between India and Bangladesh. For this, the study used the method of content analysis and narrative review that drew from the literature to understand the underlying concepts and problems connected to cross-border climate change, international cooperation, and adaptation.