Bangladesh Environment and Forest Minister Anwar Hossain Manju has expressed his concern over climate change owing to rising sea levels, which he warned could easily wipe away rebuilt life.
He called for a review of programmes aimed at improving resilience to natural disasters.
A new scientific report released by the World Bank Group has indicated that Bangladesh will be among the most affected countries in South Asia by an expected 2 Degree C rise in the world's average temperatures in the next decades.
The rising sea levels and more extreme heat and more intense cyclones are threatening food production, livelihoods, and infrastructure as well as slowing the reduction on poverty.
Manju said: "We have been fighting against the nature. Yet we have been living together with the nature. That is also true. The history and civilisation, history of the evolution of the human beings, all are examples of different crisis that this human civilisation faced from time to time."
A study in February showed that a thawing Antarctic glacier that is the biggest contributor to rising sea levels is likely to continue shrinking for decades, even without an extra spur from global warming.
Some scientific studies have projected sea level rise of up to two metres by 2100, a figure that would swamp large tracts of land from Bangladesh to Florida.
Almost 200 governments have agreed to work out a U.N. deal, by the end of 2015, to combat global warming that would help limit temperature rises and rising seas.
Lauding foreign assistance, Manju, however, said monetary help falls far below the commitment and resources required.
"The concern is there and it's not true that we are not getting any foreign assistance. We do get foreign assistance but it falls far below the commitment that they make or far below the resources that we need," he said.
Bangladesh - one of the world's most densely populated countries - is highly vulnerable to natural disasters, including cyclones, droughts, floods and earthquakes.
Environment and climate specialist Quamrul Chowdhury said climate change also poses a serious threat to energy and food security.
"Because of climate change sea bed is rising and the water level, water security, health security, energy security and food security problem are threatening a country like Bangladesh," he said.
Cyclone Sidr in 2007 killed around 3,500 people in Bangladesh, while Cyclone Aila in 2009 killed more than 300 people in Bangladesh and around 150 people in India.
The World Bank has now contributed a total of USD 324 million to the assistance project, which began in 2008.
The project has also received contributions from the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund, and KfW (euro 3.82 million). Total available funds are now USD 356.9 million.
The project has so far rebuilt and improved 240 cyclone shelters in coastal areas that are now being used as schools or for other community purposes. The project has also completed construction of another 42 multi-purpose cyclone shelters.
