Missing in (Climate) Action? Displaced Communities and the Search for Durable Solutions: Bangladesh as a loss and damage case study

Foregrounding the voices of people living in three different communities of displacement in Bangladesh, this field research and advocacy report examines the nexus of climate change, loss and damage and displacement. This comprehensive report highlights promising interventions by Bangladeshi civil society organisations that have helped internally displaced people (IDPs) living in protracted displacement move toward durable solutions. It also examines positive developments on the policy front, including Bangladesh's fledgling National Strategy on Internal Displacement Management (NSIDM). At the same time, it calls attention to how Bangladesh's protracted displacement crisis remains under acknowledged and therefore under addressed in national policy and programming.

Published on October 23, 2025

Steven Miron, Dyuti Tasnuva Rifat, Tanjib Islam | idrp, IDPs, Protracted displacement, Climate, Solutions, Asia-Pacific, Guiding Principles

Protapnagar Union, Bangladesh. Informal settlement on eroding river bank. 2024. Photo by Tanjib Islam

The findings and recommendations in this report are intended to inform the UNFCCC’s Loss and Damage mechanism – the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage (SNLD) and the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) ExCom, including its Taskforce on Displacement. Each must urgently demonstrate its commitment to addressing the growing displacement crisis and supporting durable solution programming. The report’s findings and recommendations are also relevant to intergovernmental, governmental and civil society organisations working in and outside Bangladesh. Furthermore, the report suggests how conventional durable solutions approaches to displacement must evolve to remain relevant in a world of escalating losses and damages resulting from climate change.

KEYWORDS: Climate Change, Loss and Damage, Displacement, IDPs, Durable Solutions, Bangladesh

Steve Miron ([email protected]) is a Visiting Fellow at the Refugee Law Initiative, School of Advanced Studies, University of London. He is Joint Editor-in-Chief of Researching Internal Displacement. He was the principal investigator for this project.

Dyuti Tasnuva Rifat is an independent researcher in Bangladesh. She served as Research Associate for this project and co-authored Chapters 3, 4 and 5.

Tanjib Islam is an independent researcher in Bangladesh. He served as Research Associate for this project and co-authored Chapters 3, 4 and 5.

Download RID Working Paper No. 49

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