Strengthening environmental governance for sustainable development: appraising the impact of local government in rural Bangladesh

In an era defined by escalating climate change, Bangladesh stands as one of the world's most vulnerable nations, where the well-being of millions and the prospects for sustainable development is intrinsically linked to the health of its environment. This research was undertaken to address a critical question at the heart of this challenge: How effective is local government in strengthening environmental governance and building resilience at the grassroots level? With such a basic unit of rural governance as the Union Parishad, this study evaluates the role, influence of the institution and the systemic pressures that limits its performance. The results indicate a deep and disturbing paradox. A majority of the rural communities agreed that environmental degradation, which is coming in the form of massive floods, uncontrollable erosion of rivers and globally advancing salinity is a grave and imminent danger to their lives and livelihood. Such strong local action should in theory have a strong mandate because of this high level of public concern. However, the study also revealed a very profound and widespread sense of disillusionment between the people and the very establishments that are supposed to defend the people. The paper has concluded that, this disjoint is not due to indifference of the citizens, but is the effect of a malfunctioning system of governance. The Union Parishad, which in theory is the foundation stone of local action, is substantively disempowered and in practice emasculated by three kinds of paralysing problems: a debilitating shortage of financial resources, the corrosive effects of corruption which eats away at its credibility, and the unwarranted political interference which eats away at the proper planning and fair action. These fundamental problems are further enhanced by the inferior institutional capacity, insufficient technical skills and inability of the local, regional and national organizations to coordinate their efforts.