The book addresses the gaps in the body of knowledge from two grounds. Firstly, it adds value through explaining the dynamics of natural resource governance by focusing on the particular arenas of biodiversity resources, water resources and climate change in developing country context. Secondly, it critically scrutinizes the market-centric perspectives on one hand and combines political economy questions that are generally overlooked in discussions of current resource governance framework, on the other. It develops a new framework to examine the reasons behind the degradations of natural resources to offer sustainable solutions to the problems. It shows that the natural resources have been exploited beyond sustainable limits due to the structural rigidities, embedded in, and reproduced by, fragile institutions and unequal power-sharing arrangements under the market-centric economic system. The book formulates a new understanding of sustainability in case of usage and management of natural resources by incorporating the idea of human sociality. It highlights the importance of the well-being of nature, and human beings must go side by side; one without the other is not a sustainable option. The book contains key learnings for scholars and researchers working in the field of development studies who wish to gain a deeper understanding on the sustainable natural resource governance specifically in the contexts of developing countries. For policymakers and policy advocates, the book serves as the groundwork on policies regarding biodiversity resources, water resources, and climate change, specific to the context of developing countries, providing more relevant contents in terms of laying out justification for policy objectives.
Author(s): Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, Tanjila Afrin, Mohammad Saeed Islam
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 380
City: Singapore
Preface and Acknowledgements
Contents
About the Authors
Abbreviations
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Maps
1 Setting the Context
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Biodiversity Resources
1.3 Water Resources
1.4 Climate Change
1.5 Biodiversity, Water and Climate Change: The Case of Bangladesh
1.6 Scope and Approach of the Book
1.7 Organisation of Chapters
References
2 Managing Natural Resources Sustainably: Market and Non-market Approaches
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Market-Centric Approach: Neo-classical Economics and New Institutional Economics
2.3 Political Economy Approach: Power, Political Settlement and Distribution
2.4 The Complementarity of Human and Nature Well-Being: A New Approach
2.4.1 Agents
2.4.2 Means
2.4.3 Outcomes
2.4.4 Institutions
2.4.5 Power and Political Settlement
2.4.6 Human Sociality
2.5 Concluding Remarks
References
3 Biodiversity Resources: Degradation, Restoration and Sustainable Conservation
3.1 Introduction
3.2 State of Biodiversity Resources in Bangladesh
3.2.1 Forest Biodiversity
3.2.2 Coastal and Marine Biodiversity
3.2.3 Wetlands Biodiversity
3.2.4 Agricultural Biodiversity
3.3 Biodiversity Degradation of the Sundarbans: A Micro-case Study
3.4 Biodiversity Under Market: Commodification and Institutions
3.5 Political Economy of Biodiversity: Accumulation and Distribution
3.6 An Alternative Framework
3.6.1 Proposition 1: Pricing and Rent
3.6.2 Proposition 2: Rent, Institutions and Regulation
3.6.3 Proposition 3: Power, Political Settlement and Primitive Accumulation
3.6.4 Proposition 4: Collaboration and Well-Being
3.7 Missing Institutions: Property Rights Instability and Marginalisation of Local People
3.8 Power, Politics and Degeneration of Biodiversity Resources
3.9 Pricing, Rent and Extraction of Forest Resources
3.9.1 Commercialisation and Unequal Rent Distribution
3.9.2 Loss of Forest Revenue: Evidence of Rent Dissipation
3.10 Traditional Knowledge and Cooperation for Sustainable Management of Biodiversity Resources
3.11 Concluding Remarks
References
4 Water Resources: Provision, Distribution and Sustainable Production
4.1 Introduction
4.2 State of Water Resources in Bangladesh
4.2.1 Groundwater Resources
4.2.2 Transboundary Rivers
4.2.3 Wetland Resources
4.2.4 Marine Resources
4.3 Water Under Market: Scarcity, Pricing and Institutions
4.4 Politico Economy of Commodification, Exchange and Accumulation
4.5 An Alternative Framework
4.5.1 Proposition 1: Provisioning and Access
4.5.2 Proposition 2: Property Rights and Benefits Sharing
4.5.3 Proposition 3: Power and Bargaining
4.5.4 Proposition 4: Technology, Scale and Resources
4.5.5 Proposition 5: Human–Nature Mutuality
4.6 Provisioning and Access: A Case Study of Groundwater
4.6.1 Financialisation and Rent Dissipation: Case of Dhaka City
4.6.2 COVID-19, WASH Practice and Groundwater
4.7 Unstable Institutions and Power Politics: The Case of Wetlands
4.7.1 The Pre-British Period
4.7.2 The British Colonial Period
4.7.3 The Pakistan Period
4.7.4 The Bangladesh Period
4.8 Power and Unequal Exchange: The Case of Transboundary Water
4.8.1 Ganges Treaty and Indus Treaty: A Comparison
4.9 Technology, Institutions and Revenue: The Case of Marine Resources
4.10 Social Norms, Cooperation and Human Sociality in Water Governance
4.11 Concluding Remarks
References
5 Climate Change: Equity and Sustainability
5.1 Introduction
5.2 State of Climate Change
5.3 Climate Change in Bangladesh
5.4 Market Correction of Climate Crisis
5.5 Ecological Rift, Ecological Debt and Unequal Exchange
5.6 An Alternative Framework
5.6.1 Proposition 1: Externality and Distribution
5.6.2 Proposition 2: Capital Deficiency and Non-functioning Market Solutions
5.6.3 Proposition 3: Institutions and Carrying Capacity
5.6.4 Proposition 4: Material Balance and Sustainability
5.7 Unequal Rate of Pollution and Distribution of Burdens
5.7.1 Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security: Burden for Bangladesh I
5.7.2 Frequency and Intensity of Natural Disasters: Burden for Bangladesh II
5.7.3 Decreasing Carrying Capacity and Displacement: Burden for Bangladesh III
5.8 International Co-operation in Financing and Technology Transfer
5.9 Institutional Fragility at the National Level: Methane Emission and Energy Transformation
5.10 Material Balance, Resilience and Sustainability
5.11 Concluding Remarks
References
6 Conclusions: Sustainable Transformative Pathways
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Sustainable Transformative Pathways: Necessary and Sufficient Conditions
6.3 Bending the Curve of Degradation of Biodiversity Resources
6.4 Equalising the Curve for Water Resources
6.5 Flattening the Curve of Climate Crisis
6.6 Natural Resources, Sustainable Development Goals and COVID-19 Pandemic
References
