Climate Change
Bangladesh needs to boost climate diplomacy: Experts
Though Bangladesh is one of the worst victims of climate change with almost no contribution to the cause, experts have bemoaned that the wealthier nations--who have historically contributed the most to the depletion of the ozone layer--are doing very little to help the country overcome this problem.
They said Bangladesh should boost its climate diplomacy to make tackling climate change an important issue of bilateral discussions with developed countries and thus encourage them to fulfill their pledges made in the Paris Agreement.
“Bangladesh is one of the worst victims of extreme weather caused by climate change for a long time. Climate change is a global issue that needs a global solution through collective efforts,” Dr Ainun Nishat, a noted climate expert, told UNB.
Also read: Small solutions, big impacts: How five community-based projects tackling climate
He said they have long been highlighting the issue of climate finance for reducing the climate change impacts, but only pledges have been made so far instead of allocating sufficient funds globally.
“Bangladesh and other vulnerable countries should play an active role in different forums and international conferences on climate change in encouraging the developed countries to deliver on their commitments to support the badly affected countries to face the devastating impacts like flash floods, droughts, heat waves, storms, cyclones, and rising sea levels,” the expert said.
“Our country has been experiencing frequent natural disasters like floods, cyclones, increasing incidents of lightning strikes and landslides triggered by global warming, causing huge losses to human lives and natural resources,” Dr Nishat observed.
Bangladesh was the seventh most-affected country in the world by “extreme weather events” over the 20 years, according to a report by Global Climate Risk Index 2019.
Renowned environmental expert Dr Atiq Rahman, who was recognised by the UN as one of the Champions of the Earth in 2008, Bangladesh is not only facing the loss of lives and resources due to the adverse impacts of the climate change, but also facing a threat to food security due to an abnormal shift in its traditional six seasons.
Also read: Dhaka calls for more IOM role in helping climate migrants
He said farmers in Bangladesh are going through serious difficulties with the cultivation of various crops due to changes in temperature, wind-flow and rainfall patterns. “For an example, farmers face problems in the process of ‘retting’ the jute plants for lack of rainwater. At the same time, the farmers cannot plant their paddy timely during the monsoon period for lack of adequate rainfall.”
Besides Dr Rahman, executive director of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, said winter in Bangladesh is getting less biting, but foggier, hampering the crop production.
Dr Ainun Nishat also the impacts of climate change will continue to affect the country‘s agriculture sector in many ways. “The agricultural calendar that has long been followed by the farmers of the country is changing erratically due to rise in temperature and variations in wind-flow and rainfall patterns which is eventually harming the food chain.
Besides, he said crop production is also being hampered due to flash floods and droughts caused by growing temperature.
Citing different local and international studies, the expert said around 30 million people are “predicted to be at risk” of sea-level rise in Bangladesh by 2050 while the annual rise in sea level in the country ranges between 6mm and 20mm.
He said the rise in sea level is contributing to increasing salinity and climate-induced migration in the coastal areas. “People in some coastal districts are being forced to migrate to different districts due to an increase in salinity.
According to a World Bank study, climate change will cause significant changes in river salinity in the southwest coastal region during the dry season (October to May) by 2050, and will likely lead to shortages of drinking and irrigation water and cause changes in aquatic ecosystems.
Under the circumstances, Both Dr Nishat and Dr Rahman said Bangladesh should focus on climate diplomacy to mount pressure on the industrialised countries to compensate for the losses and damages the country is facing due to climate change and ensure sufficient financing for adaptation and resilience building.
Climate Change: Danish princess visits Sundarbans, interacts with affected people in Satkhira
Danish crown princess Mary Elizabeth on Wednesday visited the Sundarbans coastal area of Shyamnagar upazila in the district and witnessed the impacts of climate change there hours before wrapping up her Bangladesh tour.
She reached Munshiganj Union of Shyamnagar Upazila by an Air Force helicopter around 10:30 am, said Satkhira Superintendent of Police Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman.
Also read: Danish crown princess interacts with Rohingyas, host community
Later, the princess traveled to Kultali village by a car and visited the coastal embankment area affected by climate change.
During the visit, the Princess exchanged views with the people affected by climate change.
She explored how climate change has changed their lives, what challenges they have to deal with.
After talking to the people here, the princess visited a local multipurpose cyclone shelter and learnt about its functionality during a cyclone and its management.
At noon, the princess and her entourage arrived at the Sundarbans coastal monsoon resort and attended a luncheon.
Weary of many disasters? UN says worse to come
A disaster-weary globe will be hit harder in the coming years by even more catastrophes colliding in an interconnected world, a United Nations report issued Monday says.
If current trends continue the world will go from around 400 disasters per year in 2015 to an onslaught of about 560 catastrophes a year by 2030, the scientific report by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction said. By comparison from 1970 to 2000, the world suffered just 90 to 100 medium to large scale disasters a year, the report said.
The number of extreme heat waves in 2030 will be three times what it was in 2001 and there will be 30% more droughts, the report predicted. It’s not just natural disasters amplified by climate change, it’s COVID-19, economic meltdowns and food shortages. Climate change has a huge footprint in the number of disasters, report authors said.
Also read: Despite emissions growth slowing, window for climate action 'closing fast': UN body
People have not grasped how much disasters already cost today, said Mami Mizutori, chief of the UN Office of Disaster Risk Reduction, “If we don't get ahead of the curve it will reach a point where we cannot manage the consequences of disaster,” she said. “We're just in this vicious cycle.”
That means society needs to rethink how it finances, handles and talks about the risk of disasters and what it values the most, the report said. About 90% of the spending on disasters currently is emergency relief with only 6% on reconstruction and 4% on prevention, Mizutori said in an interview Monday.
Not every hurricane or earthquake has to turn into a disaster, Mizutori said. A lot of damage is avoided with planning and prevention.
In 1990, disasters cost the world about $70 billion a year. Now they cost more than $170 billion a year, and that’s after adjusting for inflation, according to report authors. Nor does that include indirect costs we seldom think about that add up, Mizutori said.
For years disaster deaths were steadily decreasing because of better warnings and prevention, Mizutori said. But in the last five years, disaster deaths are “way more” than the previous five years, said report co-author Roger Pulwarty, a U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate and social scientist.
Also read: Twitter bans ads that contradict science on climate change
That's because both COVID-19 and climate change disasters have come to places that didn't used to get them, like tropical cyclones hitting Mozambique, Mizutori said. It's also the way disasters interact with each other, compounding damage, like wildfires plus heatwaves or a war in Ukraine plus food and fuel shortages, Pulwarty said.
Pulwarty said if society changes the way it thinks about risk and prepares for disasters, then the recent increase in yearly disaster deaths could be temporary, otherwise it’s probably “the new abnormal."
Disasters are hitting poorer countries harder than richer ones, with recovery costs taking a bigger chunk out of the economy in nations that can’t afford it, co-author Markus Enenkel of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative said.
“These are the events that can wipe out hard-earned development gains, leading already vulnerable communities or entire regions into a downward spiral,” he said.
The sheer onslaught of disasters just add up, like little illnesses attacking and weakening the body's immune system, Pulwarty said.
The report calls for an overhaul in how we speak about risk. For example, instead of asking about the chances of a disaster happening this year, say 5%, officials should think about the chances over a 25-year period, which makes it quite likely. Talking about 100-year floods or chances of something happening a couple times in 100 years makes it seem distant, Mizutori said.
“In a world of distrust and misinformation, this is a key to moving forward,” said University of South Carolina Hazards Vulnerability and Resilience Institute Co-Director Susan Cutter, who wasn’t part of the report. “We can move forward to reduce the underlying drivers of risk: Inequality, poverty and most significantly climate change.”
Twitter bans ads that contradict science on climate change
Twitter says it will no longer allow advertisers on its site who deny the scientific consensus on climate change, echoing a policy already in place at Google.
"Ads shouldn’t detract from important conversations about the climate crisis,” the company said in a statement outlining its new policy Friday.
There was no indication that the change would affect what users post on the social media site, which along with Facebook has been targeted by groups seeking to promote misleading claims about climate change.
Also read: Musk says he has $46.5B in financing ready to buy Twitter
The announcement coinciding with Earth Day came hours before the European Union agreed a deal requiring big tech companies to vet their sites more closely for hate speech, disinformation and other harmful content.
Twitter said it would provide more information in the coming months on how it plans to provide “reliable, authoritative context to the climate conversations” its users engage in, including from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The U.N.-backed science panel's reports on the causes and effects of climate change provide the basis for international negotiations to curb climate change.
Also read: Mamata blocks Bengal Governor on Twitter
The company already has a dedicate climate topic on its site and offered what it described as “pre-bunks” during last year's U.N. climate conference to counter misinformation surrounding the issue.
UK envoy lauds climate expert Dr. Saleemul Huq
British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson has said Professor Dr Saleemul Huq has made a remarkable contribution to highlighting the threat from climate change and the urgent need for action, including attending every COP.
He made the remarks while attending a celebration at the International Centre for Climate Change & Development (ICCCAD) in IUB for Prof Dr Saleemul Huq being awarded the OBE.
UN warns Earth 'firmly on track toward an unlivable world'
Temperatures on Earth will shoot past a key danger point unless greenhouse gas emissions fall faster than countries have committed, the world’s top body of climate scientists said Monday, warning of the consequences of inaction but also noting hopeful signs of progress.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change revealed "a litany of broken climate promises” by governments and corporations, accusing them of stoking global warming by clinging to harmful fossil fuels.
“It is a file of shame, cataloguing the empty pledges that put us firmly on track toward an unlivable world,” he said.
Governments agreed in the 2015 Paris accord to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) this century, ideally no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit). Yet temperatures have already increased by over 1.1C (2F) since pre-industrial times, resulting in measurable increases in disasters such flash floods, extreme heat, more intense hurricanes and longer-burning wildfires, putting human lives in danger and costing governments hundreds of billions of dollars to confront.
Also read: WMO: Antarctica 'should not be taken for granted' amid extreme weather uptick
“Projected global emissions from (national pledges) place limiting global warming to 1.5C beyond reach and make it harder after 2030 to limit warming to 2C,” the panel said.
In other words, the report’s co-chair, James Skea of Imperial College London, told The Associated Press: “If we continue acting as we are now, we’re not even going to limit warming to 2 degrees, never mind 1.5 degrees."
Ongoing investments in fossil fuel infrastructure and clearing large swaths of forest for agriculture undermine the massive curbs in emissions needed to meet the Paris goal, the report found.
Emissions in 2019 were about 12% higher than they were in 2010 and 54% higher than in 1990, said Skea.
The rate of growth has slowed from 2.1% per year in the early part of this century to 1.3% per year between 2010 and 2019, the report’s authors said. But they voiced “high confidence” that unless countries step up their efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the planet will on average be 2.4C to 3.5C (4.3 to 6.3F) warmer by the end of the century — a level experts say is sure to cause severe impacts for much of the world’s population.
“Limiting warming to 1.5C requires global greenhouse gas emissions to peak before 2025 at the latest and be reduced by 43% by 2030,” he said.
Such cuts would be hard to achieve without without drastic, economy-wide measures, the panel acknowledged. It's more likely that the world will pass 1.5C and efforts will then need to be made to bring temperatures back down again, including by removing vast amounts of carbon dioxide — the main greenhouse gas — from the atmosphere.
Many experts say this is unfeasible with current technologies, and even if it could be done it would be far costlier than preventing the emissions in the first place.
The report, numbering thousands of pages, doesn’t single out individual countries for blame. But the figures show much of the carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere was released by rich countries that were the first to burn coal, oil and gas beginning with the industrial revolution.
The U.N. panel said 40% of emissions since then came from Europe and North America. Just over 12% can be attributed to East Asia, which includes China. But China took over the position as world’s top emissions polluter from the United States in the mid-2000s.
Many countries and companies have used recent climate meetings to paint rosy pictures of their emissions-cutting efforts, while continuing to invest in fossil fuels and other polluting activities, Guterres charged.
“Some government and business leaders are saying one thing but doing another," he said. “Simply put, they are lying. And the results will be catastrophic.”
The report isn’t without some hope, however.
Also read: 99% of world's population breathes poor-quality air: WHO
Its authors highlight myriad ways in which the world can be brought back on track to 2C or even, with great effort, return to 1.5C after that threshold has been passed. This could require measures such as the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere with natural or artificial means, but also potentially risky technologies such as pumping aerosols into the sky to reflect sunlight.
Among the solutions recommended are a rapid shift away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy such as increasingly cheap solar and wind power, the electrification of transport, less meat consumption, more efficient use of resources and massive financial support for poor countries unable to pay for such measures without help.
The situation is as if humanity has “gone to the doctor in a very unhealthy condition,” and the doctor is saying “you need to change, it’s a radical change. If you don’t you’re in trouble,” said report co-author Pete Smith, a professor of soils and global change at the University Aberdeen.
“It’s not like a diet,” Smith said. “It is a fundamental lifestyle change. It’s changing what you eat, how much you eat and get on a more active lifestyle.”
One move often described as “low-hanging fruit” by scientists is to plug methane leaks from mines, wells and landfills that release the potent but short-lived greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. A pact forged between the United States and China at last year’s U.N. climate conference in Glasgow aims to do just that.
“The big message we’ve got (is that) human activities got us into this problem and human agency can actually get us out of it again,” said Skea, the panel's co-chair.
The panel’s reports have become increasingly blunt since the first one was published in 1990, and the latest may be the last before the planet passes 1.5C of warming, Skea told the AP.
Last August, it said climate change caused by humans was “an established fact” and warned that some effects of global warming are already inevitable. In late February, the panel published a report that outlined how further temperature increases will multiply the risk of floods, storms, drought and heat waves worldwide.
Still, the British government’s former chief science adviser David King, who wasn’t involved in writing the report, said there are too optimistic assumptions about how much CO2 the world can afford to emit.
“We don’t actually have a remaining carbon budget to burn,” said King, who now chairs the Climate Crisis Advisory Group.
“It’s just the reverse. We’ve already done too much in the way of putting greenhouse gases up there," he said, arguing that the IPCC's calculation omits new risks and potentially self-reinforcing effects already happening, such as the increased absorption of heat into the oceans from sea ice loss and the release of methane as permafrost melts.
Such warnings were echoed by U.N. chief Guterres, citing scientists' warnings that the planet is moving “perilously close to tipping points that could lead to cascading and irreversible climate impacts."
“But high-emitting governments and corporations are not just turning a blind eye; they are adding fuel to the flames,” he said, calling for an end to further coal, oil and gas extraction. “Investing in new fossil fuels infrastructure is moral and economic madness."
Vulnerable nations said the report showed big polluters have to step up their efforts before the next U.N. climate summit in Egypt this fall.
“We are looking to the G-20, to the world’s biggest emitters, to set ambitious targets ahead of COP27, and to reach those targets – by investing in renewables, cutting out coal and fossil fuel subsidies,” said Tina Stege, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands. “It’s long past time to deliver on promises made.”
110 interventions proposed to address 14 climate hazards in 11 stress areas
The recently developed draft National Adaptation Plan (NAP) has proposed 110 interventions to turn Bangladesh into a climate-resilient country.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change organised a workshop on Saturday as part of NAP validation process.
The Ministry is implementing the Formulation and Advancement of the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) in Bangladesh project with support from UNDP and funded by the Green Climate Fund.
The draft NAP has been developed based on the opinions and feedback from the stakeholders, including the climate-vulnerable people, communities, individuals, women, youth, public officials and climate change experts, said UNDP.
More than 30 consultations took place at the national, divisional, district and upazila levels in 11 climate stress areas in the most climate-vulnerable regions across Bangladesh.
Read: Speakers for removing gender inequality for better future
NAP identified 14 climate hazards that include extreme temperature, erratic rainfall, riverine flood, riverbank erosion, drought, cyclone and storm surge, sea-level rise, salinity intrusion, flash flood, landslide, cold snap, lightning, urban flood and ocean acidification.
Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin was present as the chief guest while Deputy Minister Habibun Nahar, Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on the ministry Saber Hossain Chowdhury and Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP Van Nguyen were present as special guests at the event chaired by Secretary of the ministry Md Mostafa Kamal.
Dr Ainun Nishat, Professor Emeritus, made a presentation on adaptation strategies and interventions, while Malik Fida A Khan presented the draft NAP.
Shahab Uddin said they will seriously consider the opinions of the stakeholders in finalising the NAP. “For successful implementation of the NAP, the capacity enhancement will be our priority among others – our ministry will work closely with all the public and private institutions in the NAP process.”
Read: PM wants autistic children to flourish through collective efforts
Van Nguyen said, “I am hopeful that NAP will strategise sustainable adaptation solutions for Bangladesh and mainstream it in the national development planning”.
She expressed her high hope that Bangladesh will leverage domestic and international financing options for its successful implementation.
Saber Hossain said, “Bangladesh does not have any risk index, which is critically important for designing sustainable resilience plan. We also need to develop country risk profile”.
“Furthermore, we must have a clear picture of the benefits against adaptation investment”, he added.
For climate migrants in Bangladesh, town offers new life
The 29-year-old Monira Khatun was devastated after her husband abandoned her suddenly. She returned to her father only to face another blow: He died soon after, leaving her to shoulder three other family members’ care. Without any work, she was worried about how she would feed them.
“I lost everything. There was darkness all around,” Khatun said. “My parents’ home was gone to the river for erosion, we had no land to cultivate.”
She ended up working at a factory in a special economic zone that employs thousands of climate refugees — like Khatun — in the southwestern town of Mongla, where Bangladesh’s second-largest seaport is located.
Read:War shakes Europe path to energy independence, climate goals
Women's participation in climate action: 'Gender equality prerequisite for sustainable tomorrow'
Gender equality is a prerequisite for a sustainable tomorrow, Dr Saleemul Huq has said.
"Women's rights will be ensured only when gender equality is established. It has been observed that women and girls are disproportionately impacted by the adversities of climate change," said Dr Saleemul, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD).
He made remarks at the webinar "Women Breaking Biases for Climate Justice," aligned with International Women's Day 2022 theme "Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow," organised by ActionAid Bangladesh Sunday ahead of March 8.
Read:UN: Climate change to uproot millions, especially in Asia
Dr Saleemul also mentioned that women's voices, responsibilities, and knowledge of the environment and the challenges they face need to be the central part of the adaptive response to a rapidly changing climate.
"Although significant progress has been made by women across the globe since countries came into an agreement about the importance of women's participation in climate action at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, everyone – including young people, scientists, researchers, owners of multinational companies– must play an important role in solving this problem."
Dr Mahbuba Nasreen, professor and founding director of the Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies, University of Dhaka, said when climate-induced disasters hit any community, it is the women and girls who are hit hardest.
"Research shows violence against women increases after a natural disaster because of increased traumatic stress, scarcity of basic supplies, and destruction of authoritative systems."
Runa Khan, founder and executive director of non-governmental organisation Friendship said: "Most of the char dwellers are climate migrants. Erosion of chars is putting millions of people at health risk. Nevertheless, women are making remarkable differences in their communities. They are participating in decision-making and mobilising themselves to take initiatives to address the ongoing climate crisis."
Read: Dickson impressed by joint efforts to construct climate-resilient infrastructure in Bangladesh
Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh, said because of climate change, women in Bangladesh face greater challenges compared to men due to increased sexual harassment during any crisis.
"Increased water-related stresses all over Bangladesh are leading to increased school dropouts of girls and child marriage; tripled burden because of displacement and migration associated with climate change impacts."
Despite these challenges, she said, women in Bangladesh have demonstrated enormous capacity to respond to emergencies efficiently through increased women empowerment and decision-making ability of women.
Climate change to uproot millions, especially in Asia: UN
The walls of Saifullah’s home in northern Jakarta are lined like tree rings, marking how high the floodwaters have reached each year -- some more than four feet from the damp dirt floor.
When the water gets too high, Saifullah, who like many Indonesians only uses one name, sends his family to stay with friends. He guards the house until the water can be drained using a makeshift pump. If the pump stops working, he uses a bucket or just waits until the water recedes.
“It’s a normal thing here,” Saifullah, 73, said. “But this is our home. Where should we go?”
As the world’s most rapidly sinking major city, Jakarta demonstrates how climate change is making more places uninhabitable. With an estimated one-third of the city expected to be submerged in the coming decades – in part because of the rising Java Sea – the Indonesian government is planning to move its capital some 1,240 miles (2,000 kilometers) northeast to the island of Borneo, relocating as many as 1.5 million civil servants.
It’s a huge undertaking and part of the mass movement of people that is expected to accelerate in the years ahead.
Read: Bangladesh calls for addressing root causes of climate-induced displacement
A staggering 143 million people will likely be uprooted over the next 30 years by rising seas, drought, searing temperatures and other climate catastrophes, according to an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report published Monday by the United Nations.
In Asia, governments are already scrambling to deal with it.
One in three migrants in the world today comes from Asia, which leads the world in the number of people being displaced by extreme weather, largely storms and flooding, according to the report. With rural villages emptying out and megacities like Jakarta at risk, scientists predict migration flows and the need for planned relocations will only grow.
“Under all global warming levels, some regions that are presently densely populated will become unsafe or uninhabitable,” the report said.
By one estimate, as many as 40 million people in South Asia may be forced to move over the next 30 years because of a lack of water, crop failure, storm surges and other disasters.
Rising temperatures are of particular concern, said Stanford University environmental scientist Chris Field, who chaired the U.N. report in previous years.