Outlook on climate change adaptation in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Gangtok city, Sikkim, India

Infrastructure and urban areas The legislation governing transportation, infrastructure and communication in the HKH countries mainly focuses on building connectivity and improving accessibility. In most cases, climate change impacts on this sector are given only limited consideration, although there is a focus on making the transport sector less polluting. For example, Bangladesh’s Land Transport Policy of 2004 supports the establishment of an environmentally friendly transport system. Similarly, Bhutan’s Transport 2040: Integrated Strategic Vision aims for more energy-efficient transport modes, and cleaner fuels and technologies. Both of these countries

have mitigation strategies to address increasing pollution, while China’s Action Plan for Urban Adaptation to Climate Change includes developing pilot initiatives to adapt cities to climate change. At the North East Connectivity Summit in the city of Agartala, India in September 2016, Bangladesh spoke of its desire to improve connectivity with India, while BIMSTEC leaders discussed accelerating the construction of physical multi-modal connectivity in the region. Taken together, these initiatives also open up the possibility of extending port connectivity from the Bay of Bengal to the landlocked north-eastern states via transit through Bangladesh. India is also

looking at expanding subregional cooperation among BBIN (Bhutan-Bangladesh-India-Nepal) countries to cover initiatives in rail and air connectivity and the power sector. In addition, China unveiled the One Belt and One Road initiative (OBOR) in 2013, a development strategy that focuses on connectivity and cooperation between China and Eurasian countries via the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) and the ocean-going Maritime Silk Road (MSR). In mid-2016, the name was changed to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), with a focus mainly on infrastructure investment, construction materials, railways and highways, cars, real estate, the power grid, and iron and steel.

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