Photo : Collected

DHAKA, Nov 5, 2025 (BSS) - Oxfam has launched a Loss and Damage Dashboard, an interactive digital platform that enables communities to report climate-related losses.

Piloted across 19 districts between June 2023 and March 2024, the Dashboard recorded 11,579 climate change-induced loss and damage cases amounting to Taka 1.35 billion (US$11 million) in total losses-an average of Taka 117,000 (US$954) per affected person, equivalent to around fifteen months of income for the average Bangladeshi worker.

Building on these insights and data, Oxfam in Bangladesh, in collaboration with Oxfam Australia and Novib, with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), published a report, "From Ground to Global: The Loss and Damage Dashboard for Climate Equity," at an event in Dhaka today.

Loss and damage from climate change has become one of the most pressing challenges. Despite minimal contribution to global emissions, countries in the Global South face escalating climate disasters. 

Bangladesh-among the world's top ten most climate-impacted nations-loses US$3 billion annually, or 1-2% of GDP, due to climate-related disasters (World Bank, 2024). 

There are multiple unofficial accounts and claims by government and non-government sources that loss and damage, along with the response for it, cost more than $5 billion a year for Bangladesh. 

Yet, these figures understate the real picture, excluding slow-onset events like salinity intrusion and sea-level rise, said a press release.

To bridge the data gap, Oxfam in Bangladesh has developed the Loss and Damage Dashboard-a participatory, bottom-up, real-time tool that captures and validates economic and non-economic climate losses, said a press release. 

Integrating citizen science, satellites, and AI-driven validation, it empowers communities and equips policymakers with credible evidence to quantify and visualize climate impacts and advance global climate justice.

Joining the launch event, Nicolas Weeks, Ambassador of Sweden to Bangladesh, said, "The Loss and Damage Dashboard shows how local knowledge, backed by scientific evidence, can drive global change. When community voices inform policy, we build stronger climate justice and ensure funding reaches those who need it most."

The report underscores the need for gender-responsive climate finance and resilient health systems. Geospatial analysis found Cox's Bazar, Kurigram, Satkhira, and Sunamganj to be the most affected regions with existing reported cases.

Ashish Damle, Country Director of Oxfam in Bangladesh, stated, "The Dashboard translates pain into policy. By turning community stories into scientific evidence, Bangladesh is setting a global example of climate leadership. True justice begins with credible data-evidence that can influence finance decisions and hold polluters accountable."

Roufa Khanum, Assistant Director at C3ER, BRAC University, added, "Science alone cannot solve the crisis without people. This dashboard democratizes data, allowing communities to own their stories and be part of solutions. It's an inclusive approach that makes policy more human."

Sharif Jamil, Coordinator of Waterkeepers Bangladesh, said, "For too long, communities facing pollution and floods have been spoken for. Now, they can speak for themselves. This tool empowers local people to record their losses, prove the connection to climate change, and demand action from government and industry."

The report warns that climate-related loss and damage are worsening global inequality. Least Developed Countries (LDCs) like Bangladesh bear the greatest costs of a crisis that they did not cause. The richest 10% of populations account for over half of historical emissions, yet climate finance remains unjust. 

The Loss and Damage Dashboard helps correct this imbalance through verifiable, community-generated data that strengthens Bangladesh's voice in global financing negotiations.

Dr. Mohammad Emran Hasan of Oxfam presented the report. 

The event, moderated by Md Sariful Islam from Oxfam, brought together leading voices from Bangladesh's climate and development community-academics, private sector leaders, and youth activists-who reflected on how community-driven data and local innovation can transform global climate negotiations and accountability.