'Stop climate change, save Bangladesh'

 

Non-resident Bangladeshis observed September 18, 2009 as the Bangladesh Climate Change Global Action Day (BCCGAD). Initiated by Bangladesh Environment Network (BEN), the global network of non-resident Bangladeshis, non-resident Bangladeshis across the world came forward on this day in defence of Bangladesh with the slogan “Stop Climate Change, Save Bangladesh!”

 

The main event was held in New York, at the Ralph Bunche Park, across the street from the United Nations main secretariat building, where BEN, together with Bangladesh Society New York (BSNY) and other community, professional, and voluntary organizations, held a colourful rally and submitted a Memorandum written to the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.

 

Dr. Tariq Banuri, Director of the Sustainable Development Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) accepted the memorandum on behalf of the UNSG. Mr. Banuri appreciated the memorandum very much and expressed the hope that the government of Bangladesh would express views along the lines of the memorandum in the UN Climate Change Summit and at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) forums. He also apprised the delegation about the latest with regard to the UN-led process to confront climate change.

 

The rally in New York was attended by representatives of the local Bangladeshi community, Bangladesh government, international civic movement against climate change, and international community of New York. The newly appointed Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Abdul Momen, and the Consul General of Bangladesh in New York, Mr. Shamsul Haque spoke at the rally appreciating the initiative of non-resident Bangladeshis and emphasizing the necessity of the government and the civil society working together on the issue of climate change.

 

The Australia chapter of BEN held two rallies, one in the capital Canberra and the other in Sydney. After handing over the memorandum to the local UN office, the participants of the Canberra rally held a discussion at the Bangladesh High Commission office and presented a copy of the memorandum to the High Commissioner. The rally in Sydney was held at Hyde Park and ended with submission of a copy of the memorandum to the local UN office.

 

In Japan, the local BEN Chapter organized a rally in Kitakyushu and a signature campaign covering other Japanese cities and sent the memorandum by fax to the UN Tokyo office. Similar initiatives were taken by BEN members elsewhere in the world.

 

In Bangladesh itself, Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA) held rally is Dhaka in support of the initiative of the non-resident Bangladeshis.

 

It is now widely realized that Bangladesh is going to be the worst victim of climate change, set to suffer in at least five dimensions. First, the rising sea level caused by global warming will lead to the submergence of large part of Bangladesh, rendering tens of millions of people bereft of homestead and livelihood. This effect alone will be enough to destabilize the country. Second, even the part that will escape submergence will be affected by salinity that will intrude deep inside, causing havoc to the vegetation, crops, flora, and fauna. Third, melting Himalayan glaciers will render Bangladesh rivers dry in the winter, while excessive rainfall in summer will aggravate flooding. Fourth, the frequency, intensity, and scope of extreme weather events (such as cyclones and tidal bores) will increase, brining ruin to the country's coastal areas. Fifth, increase in the incidence of known and new diseases will exacerbate the public health situation of the country, already vulnerable to epidemics due to its tropical location.

 

Climate change therefore represents multiple injustices for Bangladesh. First, she is going to be its worst victim when she had virtually no role in causing it. Bangladesh's share in the cumulative GHG emissions since the industrial revolution is close to zero percent, and Bangladesh's emission accounts for only 0.1 percent of the total global GHG emission, with a per capita CO2 emission of 0.3 ton, which is only 1.5 percent of that of the United States.

 

Second, climate change presents a severe challenge to Bangladesh at a time when she is already burdened by the huge development challenge. Centuries of colonial and semi colonial exploitation has left Bangladesh deeply mired in poverty. Bangladesh's per capita energy consumption in 2004 was only 154 kilowatt-hours (kwh) compared to 14,240 kwh of the United States. Only 32 percent of the population has electricity, which means 96.2 million people still remain deprived of this basic facility. Bangladesh lacks the financial, technological, human, and institutional capability to confront the additional challenge posed by climate change.

 

The UNFCCC of 1992 and the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 have recognized the above injustices and thereby adopted the principle of “common but differentiated responsibility and respective capability,” with regard to climate change action, and required developed countries to take mitigation measures and provide assistance to developing countries for necessary adaptation measures. The Bali Action Plan of 2007 has reiterated this principle.

 

Unfortunately, developed countries have by and large failed to meet the undertakings that came up under the Kyoto Protocol. Whereas the Kyoto Protocol postulated a reduction of emissions by 5 pct relative to the 1990 level by 2012, data collected by UNFCCC show that if Economies in Transition (EIT) are excluded, the actual emission of Annex I countries actually increased by 11 percent over 1990-2004. The US, the leading contributor to cumulative GHG emission, did not even sign the Protocol.

 

Developed countries have also failed to provide adequate financial and technological help to developing countries to support their mitigation and adaptation activities. Many in developing countries therefore worry that procrastination on the part of developed countries with regard to climate change action is leading to a fait accompli under which more burden will be shifted on to the shoulders of developing countries.

 

It is therefore urgent for people of climate change frontier countries, such as Bangladesh, to rise up and demand meaningful actions. As the countries negotiate the climate change undertakings for the next budget period of the Kyoto Protocol and try to reach an agreement at the 15th Conference of Parties to be held in December in Copenhagen, now is the time to voice concerns and raise demands. The Bangladesh Climate Change Global Action Day of September 18 on the eve of the UN Climate Change Summit of September 22 has therefore been a very timely initiative.

 

To many in the West, the climate change threat posed to Bangladesh and other developing countries is still quite abstract. The rallies under BGCCAD have now put concrete faces behind this abstract notion and thereby helped to raise the consciousness level. Second, the rallies have added force to the demand for necessary financial and technological assistance that developed countries are obligated to provide to Bangladesh and other vulnerable countries to cope with the detrimental consequences of climate change that they have already started to experience.

 

The organizers of the rallies have rightly noted that just as the problem of climate change was not created in a day, so it would also not be solved by one day's rallies. Instead, Bangladeshis should be ready for a protracted struggle to save their country from climate change. In the rallies of September 18, NRBs have expressed their resolve to build over time a strong movement in defence of their country. The NRB movement will be complementing in a very important way the climate change related efforts by resident Bangladeshis and the government of Bangladesh. Bangladeshis everywhere should consider it a patriotic duty to join this movement.

 

Dr. Nazrul Islam is Global Coordinator, Bangladesh Environment Network (BEN).