Resolution of BEN

Bangladesh Environment Network

Resolution of BEN-BAPA

Climate Change, Development Policies of Bangladesh and International Cooperation
January 2009, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Background

Bangladesh will be greatly affected by climate destabilization.

Bangladesh has had no significant contribution to the causes of climate change.

The primary factor behind the accumulation of greenhouse gas and resultant climate change is industrial activities of the industrialized countries over the last two hundred and fifty years. In addition, the rapid industrialization of major developing economies is contributing to the increase of atmospheric greenhouse gas.

Although most countries and the UN have agreed on the need to curtail greenhouse gas emissions, the level of gases have already reached a point such that a rise in global temperature and sea level is inevitable, with climate destabilization and consequential harm to the environment and inhabitants of the planet.

In spite of the acclaimed necessity of the reduction of greenhouse gas emission, there appear to be as of now a lack of political will and unity among the countries most responsible for climate destabilization.

The counties most affected by the issue have little or no leverage over the issue that is of critical importance to them.

Impact on Bangladesh

Climate Change is perhaps the most serious of all challenges facing Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is expected to be affected in many ways by climate changes. These include:

Sea level rise may inundate as much as 1/3 of the area of Bangladesh.
Loss of habitation and livelihood.
Damage to agriculture from salinity upstream.
Lowering of river levels in the winter and increase in floods from increased rate of snow melting in the Himalayas.
Rise in intensity and frequency of extreme weather events
Proliferation of different diseases.

These effects are expected to cause great harm to the economy of the Bangladesh.

Call for Action

In the International Arena

BEN/BAPA are one with concerned people the world over who ask the industrialized world to commence rapid reduction of emissions to stabilize the climate as quickly as possible. This implies reductions of at least 40% by 2020 and a phase out of carbon emissions thereafter and 100% renewal energy usage by 2020.

Recognizing that even this level of drawdown of emissions will expose Bangladesh and other low lying states to potential catastrophic inundation, a fund must be established to provide direct compensation.

Bangladesh should seek to work together specifically with other countries affected by climate change in developing adaptation strategies.

IPCC research and recommendations regarding climate change are global recommendations and not country specific. The implications of these have not been developed in detail for the specific case of Bangladesh. This is research yet needs to be undertaken.

Bangladesh must seek to safeguard her interests in international arena as forcefully as she can.

Developed countries have a moral obligation therefore to assist Bangladesh and other developing countries in the challenges faced by climate change. This involves working together to discover and effect various measures to adapt and survive in the new climate conditions.

Internally

There has been emphasis paid in Bangladesh to financial assistance for coping with the effects of climate change. However financial assistance by itself can not meet the challenges posed by climate change. What is required is certain changes in development policies and priorities.

Research has to be undertaken on the IPCC findings as they apply to Bangladesh.

The development policies of Bangladesh must be re-visited in the context of climate destabilization.

Purely market based economic priorities must be superseded by principled social development that includes climate induced changes on all sectors of the economy, such as a new emphasis on agriculture that may be resistant to increased salinity and increased flooding.

The energy policies of Bangladesh should have more emphasis on renewable energy sources such as solar energy and development of green sectors of the economy. Non-renewable energy sources should be relied upon less and in particular the environmental fallout of coal extraction must be given particular attention.

The education system of the country must include climate change as a part of the curriculum so that future generations are educated on the issues and may contribute to innovative solutions.

The repercussions of climate destabilization on health needs to be studied and adequate measures taken in the training and staffing of health professionals in the country.

The people and the government of Bangladesh need to be alert about the possibilities of climate apartheid in the country and must pay attention to equitable access of all sectors of society to the resources available.

Among the most important changes in internal policies to better deal with climate change is the reversal of the current “Cordon Approach” to water management in Bangladesh.

By the “Cordon Approach” flood plains are cordoned off from the neighboring river channels through construction of solid embankments. The approach was initiated in Bangladesh by the Krug Commission in the fifties, and since then scores of large, medium, and small scale cordon projects have been constructed all over Bangladesh.

Opposed to the “Cordon Approach” is the “Open Approach. In a delta, like Bangladesh, the floodplains and river channels are inseparable parts of one organic whole system. The floodplains should be kept open to the river channels and the connection between the two should be expanded and extended as much as possible. This change in water management should be seen no less than a pre-condition to all other adaptive measures.

Greater environmental awareness implies the maintenance of rivers and water bodies. The rivers (the small and medium sized ones) and other surface water bodies generally need to be re-excavated. New canals and other surface water bodies need to be dug in order to prevent erosion at high value points and to extend the area over which monsoon river water can spread. If necessary, at places even new embankments may be constructed, not as cordons, but as means to regulate the timing and volume of water passage.

Along with the change in our policy to rivers, the preservation and increase of our forests is vital. This contributes to the global effort to decrease atmospheric carbon levels. Forests are the homes of indigenous people, provide for their sustenance and they have a right to these lands that must not be encroached on.

In the area of adaptation various measures need to be undertaken. The expected increase of storm intensity and occurrences should be prepared for by the construction of adequate number of storm shelters. Recent experience with Hurricane “Sidr” has shown the utility of these shelters. The death toll would have been far greater had it not been for the shelters and the civil defense system. This fact is underlined by the damage seen in neighboring Myanmar due to a comparable storm in May 2008, “Nafisa” .

The impact of climate change on agriculture needs extensive research. Many adaptive policies will need to be undertaken based on such in-depth studies..

Energy policy is a critical component in meeting climate change. Electricity production will need to be increased in great amounts in order to maintain economic growth. Many new energy sources will need to be considered. These may include solar energy and wind energy, and other low carbon growth energy sources not hitherto considered. As in other countries the development of alternate energy sources could be a boon to the economy.

Conclusion

It is our hope that this conference of 2^nd January 2009 will serve to encourage all people in Bangladesh, including experts, activists, government and non-government workers, and the media to unite together in facing the imminent threats due to climate change.

We believe that a nation faces different challenges in different epochs. In the 60s and 70s the quest for self-determination had given us a new found strength, and we were able to overcome incredible odds to form a new nation. Climate change poses a new challenge to our existence. It is hoped that we will face this with the greater unity and resolve. Although many of the nation-wide measures must necessarily be undertaken by the government of Bangladesh, people from all walks of life can contribute to solutions by being more aware of our dependency on nature.