Environmental
Articles Archive: Climate
Change
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version prepared by BCAS
June,
2008
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I TangailIOpinion: Climate change threatens the Sundarbans
Md. Tareq Mahmud
The Sundarbans mangrove forests, the largest of such forests in the world (over 10,000 km2 of land and water, more than half situated in India, the rest in Bangladesh), lie within the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers on the Bay of Bengal. The site is intersected by a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats, and small islands of mangrove forests.
Mangroves are made up of salt-adapted evergreen trees. They are restricted to the inter-tidal zone along the vast coastlines of tropical countries and extend landward along tidal rivers. Mangroves act as natural buffers against tropical cyclones and also as filtration systems for estuarine and fresh water. They also serve as nurseries for many marine invertebrate species and fish. The Sundarbans mangrove forests are wellknown for their biodiversity, including 260 bird species, Indian otters, spotted deer, wild boar, fiddler crabs, mud crabs, three marine lizard species, and five marine turtle species. But they also host threatened species such as the estuarine crocodile, Indian python and the most iconic Bengal tiger. For these reasons, the Sundarbans National Park, India, and the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1987 and 1997, respectively.
According to the IPCC, sea-level rise is the greatest threat and challenge for sustainable adaptation within south and southeast Asia.39 The consequences in terms of flooding of lowlying deltas, retreat of shorelines, salinitization and acidification of soils, and changes in the water table raise serious concerns for the wellbeing of the local population. In addition to global sea-level rise (or eustatic sea-level rise, i.e. the change in global average sea level brought about by an alteration of the volume of the world ocean), there is a continuous natural subsidence in the Sundarbans,40 which causes a sea-level rise of about 2.2 mm per year. The resulting net sea-level rise rate is 3.1 mm per year at Sagar. Additional sources of stress*, not related to climate change, include the diversion of upstream freshwater inflow of the Ganges by the Farraka Barrage in India since 1974 to alleviate the rapid siltation in the Port of Calcutta. This barrage diversion induced a decrease of 40% of the dry season flow.41,42 The joint action of sea-level rise, increased evapotranspiration, and lower freshwater flow in winter will also result in increased salinity in the area threatening the conservation of the Sundarbans mangroves.43 In the Sundarbans, as in many protected areas worldwide, conservation is threatened by several external factors and, again, climate change should be viewed as one source of stress among others. Altogether these factors could lead, in the case of a 45 cm rise in global sea level, to the destruction of 75% of the Sundarbans mangroves. 44 Further destruction of the Sundarbans mangroves would diminish their critical role as natural buffers against tropical cyclones. The Bay of Bengal is heavily affected by tropical storms: about 10% of the world's tropical cyclones occur in this area and 17% of these sweep the land in Bangladesh.45 No matter whether the frequency or intensity of cyclones change in the future due to climatic disturbances, exposure of the region to the devastating effects of storms will increase if the mangroves cannot be conserved successfully.46 Sea-level rise is typically a process that cannot be entirely prevented through site level strategies.
However, the following measures could help in increasing the adaptive capacity of the Sundarbans mangroves against the adverse effects of sea-level rise:
· conservation of remaining mangrove forests in protected areas;
· restoration or rehabilitation of mangrove forests through re-planting selected mangrove tree species, for example along freshwater canals of reclaimed land (successfully practiced on Sagar Island).
Such measures make sense both ecologically and economically. A project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has evaluated the cost of building 2,200 km of protective storm and flood embankments that would supposedly provide the same level of protection as the Sundarbans mangroves. The capital investment was estimated at about US$294 million with a yearly maintenance budget of US$6million49 - much more than the amount currently spent on the conservation of the mangrove forests in the area.
Source: The New Nation, June 01, 2008
Bangladesh can outpace sea level rise
by trapping silt in low-lying areas
Bangladesh and The Netherlands have had a long and fruitful relationship. We were among the first nations to recognise Bangladesh after independence. And we were among the first to provide support for Bangladesh's development, starting in 1975. Since that time we have been active partners, working together on a variety of projects and programmes.
During my travels in this beautiful country I have seen that much has been achieved in Bangladesh since independence. Major infrastructure has been built: roads, bridges, dykes. The school system has been developed, and so has health care. A successful garment manufacturing industry has come up. And there are many more achievements.
But I have also seen that the benefits of these developments are not reaching everyone in Bangladesh equally. There are haves, and have nots. And there are some fundamental changes needed in order to improve this situation. At present, the Bangladesh-Netherlands development cooperation programme focuses on three areas: education, health, and water management.
We annually provide grants to the amount of some 65 million Euros (650 Crore Taka). Here, I would like to focus on one of these development themes in particular: water.
Water is crucial for Bangladesh: it feeds crops, provides transportation and sustains the drinking water needs of the population. But water is also a threat. Floods, droughts, storm surges, water logging, river erosion.
These are some of the threats that Bangladesh faces. And the year 2007 unfortunately really brought home that message. Again.
The Netherlands faces the same threats. And that is, I think, why we have worked so well together: because we understand each other's problems. Allow me to demonstrate this with some examples. Firstly, participatory water management. Some 450 years ago the principle of participatory water manageluent was established in The Netherlands. The Government of that time realised that it could never effectively operate and maintain the thousands of kilometers of dykes, canals, and sluices that had been constructed to form our polders. Participatory 'Waterboards' were formed in which people collectively decided on the actions to be taken to improve water management. Our agricultural production flourished, and the people were safe from floods.
Over the last 15 years the same principle has gradually been introduced into Bangladesh. First into policies. Then into guidelines. Now into implementation - by the Bangladesh Water Development Board, and by the Local Government Engineering Department in their water development projects.
In Participatory Water Management local communities are helped to organise themselves into 'Water Management Organisations'. These are modelled on their Dutch examples, which by the way, continue to function until this day!
The results are very impressive:
better operation and maintenance of dykes, sluices, regulators - 20-300/0 higher
-production of crops
-more production of fish
better protection against floods and cyclonic water surges.
Those are the visible results. But perhaps even more important are the non-visible results: true meritocracy at grassroots level
-active participation of women in decision making processes
-improvement of the status of women in society
-empowerment of local communities
-reduced power of the' elites'
and a more accountable government.
This was possible, because in participatory water management everyone has an equal say, an equal vote. And this equality is changing the basics of Bangladeshi society at the grassroots.
Let me give you an example of this. Recently, during a field visit, I met a woman who had been working on the repair of the embankment which surrounds her polder. She invited me into her house. As we entered, she turned to her husband and said: 'Dear, can you please prepare a cup of tea for our guest?'.
Imagine this. The lady was asking her husband to serve the tea to their guest. She obviously felt so empowered and equal to him that she could ask him to do this. In rural Bangladesh. And this as a direct result of her participation in the water management organisation of her area.
My second example of the fruitful collaboration between Bangladesh and The Netherlands is in coastal zone development.
For the last 12 years we have supported the Char Development and Settlement Project in the area near Noakhali. Here new land is slowly being formed by the deposition of sand and silt in the Meghna estuary.
The new land needs infrastructure, roads, bridges, water supply. Its people need help to improve agriculture. But above all, the people need security: embankments, cyclone shelters, and also: security of tenure. Under the CDSP project land title deeds ('khatians') are being handed to settlers. For the first time in Bangladesh, the names on those khatians are those of women.
The CDSP project has been succesful because of a good collaboration and cooperation between no less than 6 different government line agencies and, in addition, 5 NGOs. This again is a style which has been imported from The Netherlands. We call this the 'polder model': government and civil society working together, mutually responsible, mutually accountable. My third example. The collaboration between Bangladesh and The Netherlands on water management has been successful. But it has not been exhaustive. We have started to work together on yet another main challenge facing Bangladesh, namely River Erosion.
Each year some 10,000 hectares of land are swallowed by the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna. In The Netherlands we have 'trained' our rivers to prevent this. We have constructed a variety of infrastructure works to check the spread of the rivers, but we have also learned that you cannot only fight against nature. We have experienced that in order to be most successful you must 'Build with Nature'. And that principle can also be applied to Bangladesh.
This approach, Building with Nature, has huge potential for river management, as well as for the formation of new land, of new polders. An example: In the 1960's two crossdams were constructed near Noakhali. Today, these dams have led to the creation of over 100,000 hectares of new land. If we apply the principles of Building with Nature actively and consistently, Bangladesh can gain new land every year. By harnessing the sediments carried by the rivers, Bangladesh can outpace sea-level rise.
I have already spoken so much, it is time for me to finish. But not before I share some last important ideas with you.
We can conclude that Bangladesh needs better water management. In order to do so, the country needs stronger planning and implementation agencies. But both WARPO and BWDB are struggling due to lack of manpower, and lack of resources. This needs to be addressed. Food Security and Climate Change are staring us in the face. Urgent actions are required. At present the eyes of the world are on Bangladesh and how it deals with these challenges. This attention should be utilised to acquire financing for a comprehensive, 20-30 year development vision for the water sector in Bangladesh. Both domestic and donor financing. In a comprehensive way, and not by individual stand alone projects.
In The Netherlands, it took the storm surge of 1953 in which almost 2000 people lost their lives, to swing public and political opinion to adopt the so-called 'Delta-plan'. Consecutive governments made major investments in rivers, sea embankments and environmental safeguards. Only by doing this we were able to lay the foundation for sustainable economic development. Of our agriculture. Of our industries. And of our environment.
Bangladesh's leaders also need to rallye together and agree on such a Plan. The Plan will be implemented over a period of decades. This means that consecutive governments must commit to it. This also means that the political parties of today must commit to the principle of it. Visionary parties are needed, which think beyond typical party boundaries, and which deliver results. Because such parties can count on the continued support of the people.
(Mrs. Bea Ten Tusscher, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Bangladesh delivered the speech on June 03, 2008 at the National Press Club during a meet the press programme there.)
Source: The New Nation, June 04, 2008
CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECT
Capacity building for negotiation to
realise compensation stressed
Environmentalists at a seminar on Wednesday emphasised capacity building at government as well as non-government levels to negotiate internationally in realising compensation for climate change effect from the developed countries.
They said more knowledge based information and study were needed at both the levels of less developed countries like Bangladesh who are the major victims of climate change and global warming caused due to gas emission mostly by the developed countries.
The environment rights activists were speaking a seminar on ‘Environment and climate change: human rights perspective’ organised by Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan and Nagarik Udyog at the WVA auditorium in Dhanmondi to mark World Environment Day.
BAPA president Muzaffer Ahmad regretted that although the effect of climate change and global warming was a human rights issue but environment was not included in human rights declarations.
Compensation from the developed country was the right of the less developed country like Bangladesh, he said adding that the government should work on mid-term and short-term plans for protection and adaptation on day to day effects of climate change.
He said the policy makers as well as other stakeholders should focus on both, the natural and human made changes of ecology in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, costal belt and in the rivers and other water bodies of the country.
Rivers, canals and other water bodies were the country’s resource, Muzaffer said adding that cost of transport and infrastructure development could be reduced if the reverine waterways remain operative. He particularly pointed at the circular waterway project of government which remains inoperative.
Bangladesh Economic Association president, Kazi Kholiquzzaman said climate change was not only an environmental issue but was also related with human rights, livelihood and economic issues.
‘We have to think and work through planning on how the effects of climate change could be tackled in future’, he said.
Dhaka University’s law department teacher, Asif Nazrul said public knowledge is very limited regarding environment related issues.
He said environment court remained inactive since its inception because of certain conditions in the environment law about filing an environment related case.
Asif shared his frustration that so many environmental degrading incidents were taking place everyday but no organisation or person are filing any case against the perpetrators due to corruption in the department of environment and complexities of the related law.
BAPA’s joint secretary, Zakir Hossain, professor Nurun Nabi and professor Kazi Madina were also, among others, who spoke on the occasion.
Source: New Age, June 05, 2008
Impacts of seal level rise on Bangladesh
Rajesh Sarker
Climate change is an important issue nowadays. Various human activities are making the world hot to hotter. The ultimate result is global warming, i.e. climate change. Rising temperature in the atmosphere causes sea level rise and affects low lying coastal areas and deltas of the world. In 1990, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that with a business-as-usual scenario of greenhouse gas emission, the world would be 3.3 C warmer by the end of the next century, with a range of uncertainty of 2.2 to 4.9 C (Warrick et al., 1993). With rise in temperature, sea level will rise because of thermal expansion and ice melt.
Sea level rise has various impacts on Bangladesh, a coastal country facing 710 km long coast to the Bay of Bengal. It already has affected Bangladesh by land erosion, salinity intrusion and loss in biodiversity. Its potential threats are coming even strongly in the future. Sea level rise will cause river bank erosion, salinity intrusion, flood, damage to infrastructures, crop failure, fisheries destruction, loss of biodiversity, etc. along this coast.
Due to various human activities, carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases are accumulated in the earth's atmosphere, resulting in climate change. Rising temperature expand the ocean volume in two ways.
Firstly, it melts mass volume of ice of the polar region and secondly, it causes thermal expansion of water of the ocean. Wigley and Raper (1987) comment that the relative contributions of thermal expansion and ice melting to this sea level rise are uncertain and estimates vary widely, from a small expansion effect through roughly equal roles for expansion and ice melting to a dominant expansion effect. These two factors increase volume of ocean water of the earth and rise in the sea level.
1. The main impacts of sea level rise on water resources are fresh water availability reduction by salinity intrusion. Both water and soil salinity along the coast will be increased with the rise in sea level, destroying normal characteristics of coastal soil and water.
2. Sea level rise would change the location of the river estuary, causing a great change in fish habitat and breeding ground. Penaid prawns breed and develop in brackish water, where salt water and fresh water mix. Sea level rise would turn this interface backward, changing habitat of prawn.
3. Salinity intrusion due to sea level rise will decrease agricultural production by unavailability of fresh water and soil degradation. Salinity also decreases the terminative energy and germination rate of some plants (Rashid et a!., 2004; Ashraf et a!., 2002). Ali (2005) investigated the loss of rice production in a village of Satkhira district and found that rice production in 2003 was 1,151 metric tons less than the year 1985, corresponding to a loss of 69 per cent. Out of the total decreased production, 77 per cent was due to conversion of rice field into shrimp pond and 23 per cent was because of yield loss
4. The SLR will inflict its impacts on Bangladesh in the coastal area and through the coastal area, on the whole of Bangladesh. About 2,500,8,000 and 14,000 km of land (with a corresponding percentage of2%, 5% and 10% with respect to the total land area of the country) will be lost due to SLR of O.lm, 0.3m and 10m respectively (Ali, 2000). The potential land loss estimated by IPCC (2001) is even worse. It reports 29,846 sq. km area of land will be lost and 14.8 million people will be landless by I-m SLR. (Figure-II & 12) Land loss leads to loss of agricultural land, loss of homestead, loss of road and other communication infrastructure and above of loss of wide range of biodiversity. One of the major causes of land loss is erosion.
5. Bangladesh is one of the salt producing countries of the world. Cox's Bazar coast of Bangladesh coastline is suitable for salt production. About 19,670 ha area has been used for salt production along the Cox's Bazar coast of the country. There are 216 salt pans, having an area of 8,153 ha only in Chakaria and Cox's Bazar Sadar thana of the district, producing 175,030 metric tons of salt annually (Hossain and Lin, 2001, p.19). This coastal industry is fully influenced by sea water and its level.
A one metre sea level rise will inundate all the salt fields and will ruin the sectors. Salt farmers can't move upwards land for the purpose because, physical properties of the soil of the present salt field will not move backwards with sea level rise. About 20 million people are directly or indirectly related in salt production (Hossain and Lin, 2001, p.20) and! or trading in Bangladesh. Sea level rise, by inundating salt fields will force this huge number of people to be unemployed. This large population will try to find alternative profession, which is very hard or even impossible, in the case of present situation of Bangladesh.
6. All the tourist facilities in the coastal zone will be affected by sea level rise directly or indirectly. Tourism sector of Kuaka will suffer the most because all the facilities are very close to the coastline and the area is more vulnerable Comparative to Cox's Bazar and Chittagong. However, all the mentioned areas are highly vulnerable in terms of sea level rise related natural disaster, e.g. flood, storm surge, etc.
7. Sea level rise may increase the risk of health hazards like diarrhoea, cholera, etc. Cholera is an infectious disease of the small intestine of human beings and is common in the coastal area of Bangladesh.
Water salinity of the coastal area of Bangladesh varies from 0 ppt to 20 ppt .Water salinity and its distribution in the coastal area are increasing with the increase of sea level rise (Faisal & Parveen, 2004; Alam, 2003; IPCC, 2001a; World Bank, 2000). With the increased density and distribution of salinity, cholera germs are getting favourable habitat and spreading in the coastal area.
8. The Sundarbans will be completely lost with 1 metre sea level rise (World Bank, 2000, p.63). Loss of the Sundarbans means great loss of heritage, loss of biodiversity, loss of fisheries resources, loss of life and livelihood and after all loss of very high productive ecosystem. Area of the Sundarbans, inundated by different scale of sea level rise.
9. Sea level rise, by reducing fresh water availability, reducing fisheries and agricultural production, eroding coastal land, losing biodiversity and by causing health hazards ,creates a danger situation for the people of Bangladesh. Again, 'most important to survival and well-being' is the basic needs of human being.
Table: Impacts of sea level rise on the basic needs of the people of Bangladesh
Basic needs. How sea level rise affects it
Food. Rise in sea level would flood agricultural lowlands and deltas in parts of Bangladesh (Miller, 2004; Bennett et al, 1991) that will decrease food production, causing shortage of food. Only salinity intrusion due to sea level rise will reduce 0.2 million metric ton of rice production (WB, 2000).
Cloths: Sea level rise will increase poverty. Increased poverty will decrease cloths buying capacity of the people of Bangladesh.
Housing: In Bangladesh, 29,846 sq. km. area of land, will be lost and 14.8 million people will be landless by sea level rise (IPCC, 2001a), losing their house.
Health: Sea level rise by extending coastal area and by increasing salinity in the area will increase the risk of cholera. It will accelerate flood intensity facilitating transmission of diarrheal disease (World Bank, 2000).
Education: Sea level rise will cause destruction of infrastructure including educational institutes. Besides, students of flood, or other sea level rise affected family will leave School College, in search of work to support their family.
Food, clothing, housing, health and education are the basic needs of the people of Bangladesh. Table-8 explains how sea level rise affects the basic needs of large number of people of the country. Affecting basic needs, sea level rise becomes a threat to food security and other well-being securities.
Many of these people have been displaced from their homes in recent decades becoming 'ecological refugees'. Sea level rise will create such ecological or environmental refugees in the country, forming 'ecological marginalisation' (Homer-Dixon, 1998). Barnett (2003) states, 5.5 million people living on the Ganges delta in Bangladesh who will be forced to relocate with a 45 cm rise in sea level may seek to move inland within Bangladesh, but a significant number may seek to move to India and Pakistan-and previous migration of this kind has been a factor in violence in the region.
Sea level rise induced environmental refugees may trigger the conflict. Nowadays 'Push back' is common news in Bangladeshi newspapers that means pushing Bengali speaking people from 'India to Bangladesh by Indian Border Security Force (BSF). Environmental refugees created by sea level rise will cause even worse situation that may trigger conflict between the two countries. Thus, sea level rise might be a threat to national security of Bangladesh.
Source: The New Nation, June 05, 2008
Global warming means increase in the average temperature of the atmosphere, oceans, and landmasses of the earth. The planet has warmed (and cooled) many times during the 4.65 billion years of its history. At present, earth appears to be facing a rapid warming, which most scientists believe results, at least in part, from human activities.
The chief cause of this warming is thought to be the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, which releases carbon dioxide and other substances known as greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. As the atmosphere becomes richer in these gases, it becomes a better insulator, retaining more of the heat provided to the planet by the sun.
Scientists use elaborate computer models of temperature, precipitation patterns, and atmosphere circulation to study global warming. Based on these models, they have made several predictions about how global warming will affect weather, sea levels, coastlines, agriculture, wildlife, and human health.
Weather
Some experts predict that an increase in global warming will result in unpredictable weather patterns, including storm surges in which the wind piles up water in low-lying areas. The curved arms of the New Waterway Storm Surge Barrier in the Netherlands protect Rotterdam and other inland cities from flooding during large storms in the North Sea.
Normally, the large, curved arms are retracted to allow ships from the North Sea to travel to ports along the New Waterway. When a dangerous storm is anticipated, the arms are swung out to block off the waterway and prevent large waves from pushing floodwaters inland.
Scientists predict that during global warming, the northern regions of the Northern Hemisphere will heat up more than other areas of the planet, northern and mountain glaciers will shrink, and less ice will float on northern oceans. Regions that now experience light winter snows may receive no snow at all.
In temperate mountains, snowlines will be higher and snow-packs will melt earlier. Growing seasons will be longer in some areas. Winter and nighttime temperatures will tend to rise more than summer and daytime ones.
The warmed world will be generally more humid as a result of more water evaporating from the oceans. Scientists are not sure whether a more humid atmosphere will encourage or discourage further warming. On the one hand, water vapour is a greenhouse gas, and its increased presence should add to the insulating effect. On the other hand, more vapour in the atmosphere will produce more clouds, which reflect sunlight back into space, which should slow the warming process (see Water Cycle).
Greater humidity will increase rainfall, on average, about 1% for each Fahrenheit degree of warming. (Rainfall over the continents has already increased by about 1% in the last 100 years.) Storms are expected to be more frequent and more intense. However, water will also evaporate more rapidly from the soil, causing it to dry out faster between rains.
Some regions might actually become drier than before. Winds will blow harder and perhaps in different patterns. Hurricanes, which gain their force from the evaporation of water, are likely to be more severe. Against the background of warming, some very cold periods will still occur. Weather patterns are expected to be less predictable and more extreme.
Sea levels
An increase in global warming will likely result in a rise in sea levels, which could threaten many coastal areas around the world. Experts predict that parts of Bangladesh may become completely submerged if sea levels rise.
As the atmosphere warms, the surface layer of the ocean warms as well, expanding in volume and thus raising sea level. Warming will also melt much of the glacier ice, especially around Greenland, further swelling the sea. Sea levels worldwide rose 10 to 25 cm (4 to 10 in) during the 20th century, and IPCC scientists predict a further rise of 9 to 88 cm (4 to 35 in) in the 21st century.
Sea-level changes will complicate life in many coastal regions. A 100-cm (40-in) rise could submerge 6% of the Netherlands, 17.5% of Bangladesh, and most or all of many islands. Erosion of cliffs, beaches, and dunes will increase. Storm surges, in which winds locally pile up water and raise the sea, will become more frequent and damaging. As the sea invades the mouths of rivers, flooding from runoff will also increase upstream.
Wealthier countries will spend huge amounts of money to protect their shorelines, while poor countries may simply evacuate low-lying coastal regions.
Even a modest rise in sea level will greatly change coastal ecosystems. A 50-cm (20-in) rise will submerge about half of the present coastal wetlands of the United States. New marshes will form in many places, but not where urban areas and developed landscapes block the way. This sea-level rise will cover much of the Florida Everglades.
Agriculture
A warmed globe will probably produce as much food as before, but not necessarily in the same places. Southern Canada, for example, may benefit from more rainfall and a longer growing season. At the same time, the semiarid tropical farmlands in some parts of Africa may become further impoverished.
Desert farm regions that bring in irrigation water from distant mountains may suffer if the winter snow-pack, which functions as a natural reservoir, melts before the peak growing months. Crops and woodlands may also be afflicted with more insects and plant diseases.
Animals and plants
Animals and plants will find it difficult to escape from or adjust to the effects of warming because humans occupy so much land. Under global warming, animals will tend to migrate toward the poles and up mountainsides toward higher elevations, and plants will shift their ranges, seeking new areas as old habitats grow too warm.
In many places, however, human development will prevent this shift. Species that find cities or farmlands blocking their way north or south may die out. Some types of forests, unable to propagate toward the poles fast enough, may disappear.
Human health
In a warmer world, scientists predict that more people will get sick or die from heat stress, due less to hotter days than to warmer nights (giving the sufferers less relief). Diseases now found in the tropics, transmitted by mosquitoes and other animal hosts, will widen their range as these animal hosts move into regions formerly too cold for them.
Today, 45% of the world's people live where a mosquito carrying the parasite that causes malaria might bite them; that percentage may increase to 60% if temperatures rise. Other tropical diseases may spread similarly, including dengue fever, yellow fever, and encephalitis. Scientists also predict rising incidence of allergies and respiratory diseases as warmer air grows more charged with pollutants, mold spores, and pollens.
Md. Badsha Mia writes from the Dept. of Environmental Science and Resource Management, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Santosh, Tangail.
Source: The Daily Star, June 06, 2008
World Environment Day Calls For End to Carbon Addiction
Bangladesh also observes the day
REUTERS, WELLINGTON - The United Nations urged the world on Thursday to kick an all-consuming addiction to carbon dioxide and said everyone must take steps to fight climate change.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said global warming was becoming the defining issue of the era and will hurt rich and poor alike.
"Our world is in the grip of a dangerous carbon habit," Ban said in a statement to mark World Environment Day, which is being marked by events around the globe and hosted by the New Zealand city of Wellington.
"Addiction is a terrible thing. It consumes and controls us, makes us deny important truths and blinds us to the consequences of our actions," he said in the speech to reinforce this year's World Environment Day theme of "CO2 Kick the Habit."
"Whether you are an individual, an organization, a business or a government, there are many steps you can take to reduce your carbon footprint. It is a message we all must take to heart," he said.
World Environment Day, conceived in 1972, is the United Nations' principal day to mark global green issues and aims to give a human face to environmental problems and solutions.
New Zealand, which boasts snow-capped mountains, pristine fjords and isolated beaches used as the backdrop for the "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy, has pledged to become carbon-neutral.
"We take pride in our clean, green identity as a nation and we are determined to take action to protect it. We appreciate that protecting the climate means behavior change by each and every one of us," said New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark.
New Zealand, like many countries, staged art and street festivals to spread the message on how people can reduce carbon usage. New Zealand Post has asked staff to bring a magazine or book to work and swap it to reduce their carbon footprint.
In Australia, Adelaide Zoo staged a wild breakfast for corporate leaders to focus on how carbon emissions threaten animal habitats.
GLOBAL EVENTS
In Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, people plan to clean up Gulshan Baridhara Lake that has become badly polluted, and in Kathmandu the Bagmati River Festival will focus on cleaning up the river there.
Many Asian cities, such as Bangalore and Mumbai, plan tree-planting campaigns, while the Indian town of Pune will open a "Temple of Environment" to help spread green awareness.
Global carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels are rising quickly and scientists say the world faces rising seas, melting glaciers and more intense storms, droughts and floods as the planet warms.
A summit of G8 nations in Hokkaido, Japan, next month, is due to formalize a goal agreed a year ago that global carbon emissions should be reduced by 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
But some nations think the cuts should be deeper, leading to a reduction of 80 percent of carbon emissions by 2050 to try to stabilize CO2 concentrations in the air to limit global warming.
The U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) said the cost of greening of the world's economy would cost as little as a few tenths of global GDP annually over 30 years and would be a driving force for innovation, new businesses and employment.
The UNEP urged greater energy efficiency in buildings and appliances and a switch towards cleaner and renewable forms of electricity generation and transport systems.
It said more than 20 percent of new investment in renewable energy was in developing countries, with China, India and Brazil taking the lion's share. Renewables now provide over 5 percent of global power generation and 18 percent of new investment in power.
But the U.N. body said an estimated 20 percent of carbon emissions came from deforestation and urged developing nations to save their forests as carbon sinks.
Bangladesh observed World Environment Day Thursday, with the government urging all to take steps to increase awareness on environmental issues for curbing environmental hazards and tackling the risks of climate change.
World Environment Day, conceived in 1972, is the United Nations' principal day to mark global green issues and aims to give a human face to environmental problems and solutions. The focus this year is 'Towards a Low-Carbon Economy.'
The government launched a two-day programme in the capital, beginning with a colourful procession in front of the National Museum at 7am. The programme includes an environmental award ceremony, inauguration of a two-day environment fair at the Osmani Memorial premises and a prize-winning art contest for children at Shishu Academy. President Iajuddin Ahmed and chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed both issued messages marking the day.
"Excessive dependence of humans on fossil fuels is boosting the emission of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These emissions result in environmental degradation, exacerbation of global warming trends and climate change, which impacts overall economic development adversely," said president Iajuddin.
The chief adviser, in his message, said: "Climate change is a crucial issue today at the individual, social, national and international levels."
"We must take up various mitigating programmes, including curbing the use of harmful gases and fossil fuels, and address environmental pollution to protect the climate." "Everybody should be more aware and careful about protecting the environment," said Fakhruddin.
Dhaka University's department of geography and environment also organised a parade and a seminar in association with Oxfam-GB, Bangladesh.
Speakers at the seminar said Bangladesh has become one of the countries worst affected by climate change, and must take measures such as adopting low carbon technologies and renewable energies.
They also stressed the need for raising awareness about carbon emissions and addressing the severe shortage of researchers in the field of earth sciences.
The UN has earmarked World Environment Day to raise awareness of the issues worldwide and ensure enhanced global participation in environment-friendly economic development.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said Thursday that global warming was becoming the defining issue of the era and will hurt rich and poor alike.
"Our world is in the grip of a dangerous carbon habit," Ban said in a statement to mark the day, which is being observed by events around the globe and hosted this year by the city of Wellington in New Zealand.
"Whether you are an individual, an organisation, a business or a government, there are many steps you can take to reduce your carbon footprint. It is a message we all must take to heart," he said.
"Addiction is a terrible thing. It consumes and controls us, makes us deny important truths and blinds us to the consequences of our actions," he said in his speech to reinforce this year's theme of 'CO2: Kick the Habit'.
Source: The Independent, June 06, 2008
Kicking carbon habit and greening our events
Abdus Sattar Molla
On Thursday, June 5 World Environment Day (WED) was observed in countries across the globe including Bangladesh.
WED was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Another resolution, adopted by the General Assembly the same day, led to the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Since then, WED has been observed on June 5 every year. The UNEP puts forward a slogan for the day every year and the main program is celebrated in a specific country. This year the slogan has been “Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy” and the venue, Wellington in New Zealand.
Through the above slogan, the UNEP is asking countries, companies and communities to focus on reducing the emission of greenhouse gases, recognizing that climate change is becoming the defining issue of this era.
WED is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. To aware the world people of reducing green house gas emission through reduced use of carbon, the UNEP has developed an eight step agenda:
Step 1: Commit to a low-carbon, sustainable event
Commit to running a low-carbon event, and make sustainable choices for the event. Consider making the event carbon neutral by calculating emissions and investing in an offset project.
New Zealand, the host of WED this year, is proud to have the carboNZero programme to assist the political and business leaders, ambassadors and celebrities who have made the commitment to join their “Leaders' Climate Change Challenge”. As the challenge progresses, they will also list the leaders who have submitted a personal greenhouse gas inventory and emissions reduction plan that meets the requirements.
New Zealand's initiative is praiseworthy, but such a programme should be launched by the UNEP itself so that leaders of big powers like the USA are encouraged to follow environment-friendly behaviour including carbon reduction.
Step 2: Educate Have clear information and signage for event participants about your goal to make your event low-carbon and sustainable.
Ask participants for help in meeting these goals. Encourage sustainable actions and consider rewarding those who take 'low-carbon' actions i.e., prizes for bike riders. Promote the sustainability aspects of your event and offer your knowledge to other event organizers. Recognize event coordinators, caterers and others who have worked to help meet sustainability goals. Consider ways you can inspire people to take behaviour change home with them. All the suggested features of this educative step can be applied to any event all over the world.
Step 3: Transport
Choose a venue that is near public transport and/or is in a central place where people can walk or bike to it easily. Organize a shuttle service if the event is in a remote area.
Publicize the transport options available in promotional materials. Recognize incentives and/or encourage no-carbon or low-carbon transport to your event.
Include public transport to an event in the ticket price.
By prescribing choosing of a suitable place/venue, the step has been made rather narrow applicable only to some special events. For everyday working, the venues cannot be chosen this way. However, “no-carbon” (walking or using bikes) or “low-carbon” transport can be applied almost everywhere.
Step 4: Energy
Turn off lights and appliances when not in use. Have energy-efficient light bulbs in place. Use meeting rooms that have dimmers on the lights. Use heating/heaters efficiently.
This step on efficient use of energy is more applicable to rather careless nations like us. Bangladesh now produces energy-saving light bulbs but the finishing and longevity of these bulbs are still not good enough. A slight development of the bulbs can attract most people to buy and use these to save energy that is scarce in the country. Other points of behaviour just warrant to be careful.
Step 5: Waste reduce, reuse and recycle
Minimize waste produced by the event by reducing the amount of paper and packing you use in, for example, conference packs or promotional materials. Use biodegradable packaging where possible. Participate in a recycling programme. Provide well-marked recycling bins for event attendees. Purchase reusable and durable products.
Going back to durable and reusable products should be the way for all. The specific problem in Bangladesh is almost no recycling, throwing everything anywhere. Our industrialists are still reluctant to attach a waste treatment plant to their industries; they are killing our rivers with the untreated effluents. Being unable to collect and recycle polythene products, we tried to do away with ploybags. The small country Singapore uses polythene almost with everything; collect used ones, recycle and produce coarser products.
Step 6: Procurement (sourcing your materials)
Purchase products that can be recycled or are biodegradable.
Give preference to environmentally responsible service providers. Provide restroom supplies e.g., hand towels and toilet paper that are made from recycled material.
Use paper products that are not bleached with chlorine.
Minimize the use of harmful chemicals e.g., use non-toxic cleaning products.
Using biodegradable products was once the human way of life. After doing much harm to the ecosystem with non-degradable items, we are now again crying for those. What about enhancing our jute production and the industry as a whole?
Step 7: Water
Minimize water wastage.
If it is your venue, repair leaking pipes and taps. If not, report leaks to venue owner.
Like step-4 (energy), efficient use of water is of utmost necessity. To cope with the lean period crisis of fresh water, Bangladeshis need to collect much rain water both in large (lakes) and small scales (household receptacles).
Step 8: Food and beverage
Give preference to environmentally aware service providers. Give preference to locally produced food and beverages with a low-carbon footprint. Reduce food packaging by buying in bulk. Use reusable serving containers, tablecloths, linen napkins, dishes and silverware. Donate left-over food to a local food bank or soup kitchen and compost food scraps.
Recognizing environmentally aware service providers and food and beverages with low-carbon footprints seems difficult for the general people. The consumer societies of every country can derive expertise in these rather technical matters and can help people understand this. Buying a bulk is usually for the rich people, the poor cannot afford; they buy in small amounts and pay more for the same food! This is another dimension of the vicious cycle of poverty “the poor are poor because they are poor”!
The writer is a biologist and at present PhD Researcher in NIE, Singapore.
Source: The Daily Star, June 07, 2008
There is every reason to believe that increased concentration of atmospheric carbon emissions has already contributed a major role to the global climate changes.
Clouds of carbon dioxide play a massive role in global warming.
Standing in such a climate contingency, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) acknowledges that we have already commenced our mission towards carbon abatement. However, this year will bring more collaboration from every position to change our former habit and reduce carbon emission that adversely affects human survival. In this response, they have picked a slogan for the recently concluded world environment day: "Kick the habit, towards a low carbon economy."
Different sources, namely terrestrial vegetation (i.e. plants) and oceans, balance the atmospheric carbon emission. Plants absorb carbon from the atmosphere for food production (photosynthesis). On the other hand, the ocean mixes carbon dioxide (CO2) by turbulence and converts it into carbonic acid (H2CO3), and eventually takes it into a deeper part (from the top of the ocean to 100m below) for accumulation.
But, recent evidence shows that the atmosphere has reached its highest concentration of CO2 at 387 ppm (parts per million) since the industrial revolution. Scientists also project that if our annual emission rate increases at 2.1 ppm then both plants and the ocean will not be able to absorb the extra CO2.
To defend against global warming, we need to maintain the emission limit of CO2 at 350 ppm from the previously set target at 450 ppm. Even if we start downgrading the carbon emission right now; it would take a long time to reduce the CO2 that has already been released into the atmosphere.
In the international arena, we have seen little efforts for reducing carbon emission compared to the frequently experiencing affects of climate change. Of late, the Kyoto Protocol has come up with agreements to reduce carbon emission, but to a limited extent and always constrained by the uneven interests of the countries.
Bangladesh, as one of the badly affected countries of the world from climate change, has multiple opportunities to take heed of carbon emission for sustaining its economic growth. Compared to the world average per capita CO2 emission (4.0 metric tons per capita), our emission is low (0.2 metric tons per capita). However, rapid population growth, upsurge demand of fossil fuels (natural gas, petroleum products and coal) as well as land use changes and deforestation has accelerated CO2 emission in the last decades.
So far, very limited study has been conducted in Bangladesh on carbon footprint (this is a measure of the amount of CO2 emissions that can be attributed to an organisation, product or individual). Based on different fossil fuels burning and cement manufacturing, the World Resource Institute (WRI) estimated in 2005 that total amounts of CO2 released in Bangladesh is 29,253,000 MT.
Among different fossil fuels, petroleum products (e.g. diesel, kerosene, motor spirit etc) contribute the highest concentration (50 percent of total carbon emission) followed by natural gas (44 percent) and coal (6 percent). In addition, the burning of agriculture and forest products in rural areas contributes to CO2 emission.
However, recent study shows that use of natural gas for residences, transport and industries has increased carbon emission greatly since 1990. Natural gas is gradually replacing petroleum products to some extent. Carbon-emitting industries such as cement industries have also grown considerably in the last decade. Therefore, the present carbon emission rate would be more than previously estimated one.
This year, the lesson of the environment day comes to us for managing carbon in our everyday life. The success of carbon emission reduction may only be possible if we become careful of our lifestyle, e.g. what we eat, which home appliances we use, how we travel, etc.
At very individual level, we can contribute to reduce carbon emission while choosing different energy-efficient products. For instance, instead of using regular light bulb, we can use energy-saving light bulbs, which will consume less energy, last long and reduce carbon emission.
While travelling we can use public transport in lieu of private cars, which will eventually decrease carbon emission. Proper inspection and maintenance of the vehicle can also reduce carbon emission. Government can provide better road network and improved traffic system to avoid jam (that also increases carbon emission). Moreover, motivational media campaign should be carried out to encourage people for using public transport or non-motorised vehicles.
We have different sizes of local and international business concerns. They need to focus on leaving low carbon footprint during their production period. They can play a great role through producing energy-efficient products and maintaining sustainability of the products (for reuse and recycle).
In Bangladesh, government and non-government organisations can work with carbon emitting industries to limit their emission and adopt better practices. Unlike developed countries, we do not have high expertise, yet we can develop cost-effective technology for assessing carbon emission of our industries and promoting environment-friendly business policy as well as building-adaptive environmental governance through cooperation. Carbon Disclosure Project, a UK-based non-profit organisation is already providing technical support to different world leading multi-national companies to assess their carbon emission as well for sustaining their business life.
A group of researchers from Imperial College, UK projected that 60 percent reduction of total carbon emissions in the world can be possible by 2050 through combination of energy efficiency, renewable sources of electricity, replacing coal and oil with lower carbon fuels such as gas, and the use of hydrogen as a fuel.
In Bangladesh, fossil fuel reserves for natural gas (10.6 TCF) and coal (2.7 billion tons) are not enough to meet our energy demand for a long time. We cannot also depend on oil import (consumption rate 91,000 barrels per day) entirely as it occupies nearly 22 percent of our export earnings and emits more carbon.
Considering these pessimistic scenarios, we need to explore the feasibility of developing renewable energy sources that would solve energy crisis and reduce carbon emission.
Bangladesh has several potentials to switch over to low carbon renewable energy. Because of its geographical location and availability of solar energy, solar photovoltaic system can be enhanced for generating electricity. Grameen Shakti has provided 25,000 solar home systems in the rural areas. Nevertheless, it is very limited compared to the total demand. Considering low carbon economy and to solve energy crisis, government can provide incentives to local and international agencies as early as possible for establishing renewable energy options.
Any step towards carbon efficiency will work well if we can insure better governance and economy as well as enhance coordination at all levels of the society through building stewardship for protecting our own environment. Transforming our traditional consumptive behaviour can also smooth the journey towards a low carbon economy.
Ceasing enhanced CO2 emission may be the greatest challenge for the world society while focusing on climate change. Yet, the betterment of our common future environment depends on current rational actions on resource use that emits less CO2.
Ronju Ahammad writes from the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden.
Source: The Daily Star, June 08, 2008
Tk 300cr fund for climate challenges
The government is going to allocate Tk 300 crore to create for the first time a special fund for enhancing public adaptability to face the challenges of climate change.
Terming Bangladesh one of the worst victims of climate change, Finance Adviser Mirza Aziz in his budget speech said it is not humanly possible to resist the process.
"We're aware of the fact that we have to live with the risks of disaster arising from climate change. So, we have to enhance our adaptability to the changes and try to minimise the scale of damage and dislocation," he said.
He also urged all development partners and relevant agencies to come forward and contribute to the fund styled "fund for climate change".
He went on to say that the government would introduce a new programme to ensure people's "participation in environment protection" but did not elaborate on the issue.
The adviser said the super cyclone Sidr wreaked havoc on the Sundarbans and adjoining coastal belt leaving over 4,000 people dead or missing and over 50,000 injured.
The estimated loss will be around Tk 11,500 crore taking into account the damage to crops, cattle, houses and other physical installations.
Mentioning the destruction caused by Sidr, he said the government has taken up a number of significant precautionary measures including constructing over 2,000 multipurpose cyclone centres.
Besides, the government has planned to form a national disaster management training and research centre, which will conduct research on river erosion, flood, cyclone, earthquake and fire-accidents.
Steps have also been taken to prepare a national disaster management plan, the adviser added.
He put emphasis on afforestation and added the government has set a goal to increase the country's forest coverage from present 17-20 percent. As much as 4,557 hectares of forest land has been recovered from encroachers since the caretaker government came to power, he noted.
Source: The Daily Star, June 10, 2008
Environment and climate change:
a human rights perspective
The link between human rights and environment is becoming increasingly recognised in international development circles, including institutions like the United Nations. This recognition is reflected well for instance in the Earth Justice’s claim: ‘International, governmental and nongovernmental institutions dedicated to protecting human rights must recognize the connection and take steps to provide mechanisms to address the human rights implications of environmental problems.’
Fatma Zohra Ouhachi Vesely, the UN’s special rapporteur on toxic waste, has highlighted the damage caused by the exporting of hazardous electronic waste from developed countries for recycling in ‘Third World’ Asia. Several independent studies, says Vesely, indicate that these wastes are processed in operations which are ‘extremely harmful to human health and the environment, with severe implications for human rights’.
Paul Hunt, UN special rapporteur on the right to physical and mental health, holds sentiments that resonate with Vesely’s. Hunt specifically links human rights and environment by saying the human right to health is not simply the right to health care. ‘It is also a right to the underlying determinants of health, including food and nutrition, housing, access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation, and a healthy environment,’ he says.
‘Every year more than five million children aged 0-14 die from diseases linked to the environment, such as malaria, schistosomiasis and cholera,’ Hunt claims. ‘Exposure to pollution and toxic substances threatens the health of children throughout the world. Poverty, conflict and natural disasters create particular difficulties for sustaining healthy environments for children.’
That climate change is now one of the most pressing concerns facing our planet is no longer debatable. At a conference on climate change and migration in Geneva in February of this year, Kyung-wha Kang, the UN deputy high commissioner for human rights, stressed the human rights implications of climate change: ‘Global warming and extreme weather conditions may have calamitous consequences for the rights of millions. Ultimately, climate change may affect the very right to life of all of us.’
Kang points specifically to the threat to life posed by hunger, malnutrition, exposure to disease and lost livelihoods, particularly in poor rural areas dependent on fertile soil.
In March 2008 human rights organisations were requested by the UN Human Rights Council to conduct a consultative study on the relationship between climate change and human rights.
‘The Millennium Development Goal target to reduce the number of people suffering from hunger by half will NOT be met,’ they warn. ‘Rising costs of staple cereals and increasing demand are the reasons.’
The continuing impact of climate change on agro-ecosystems presents an unprecedented and enduring long-term challenge. The special rapporteur on the right to food has voiced this concern. So too have numerable human rights groups. Due to climate change millions of people are at risk of losing access to housing, food, clean water and education. Even their very right to life is under threat.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s fourth assessment report holds climate change as predominantly human-induced, and principally caused by the unsustainable consumption patterns of wealthy countries. These patterns are increasingly imitated by upper-income groups across the developing world.
China and India boast the world’s fastest growing economies. These countries also feature massive populations with a growing upper-middle class. The fear hence is that if these countries match the already embarrassing consumption levels of western societies, the earth could thus experience devastating and irrecoverable energy production stress.
In his message on World Environment Day 2008, the UN secretary general, Bank Ki-moon, warned that ‘the environmental, economic and political implications of global warming are profound. Ecosystems – from mountain to ocean, from the Poles to the tropics – are undergoing rapid change. Low-lying cities face inundation, fertile lands are turning to desert, and weather patterns are becoming ever more unpredictable.’
The link between environmental issues and development was first internationally acknowledged in the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm 1972:
‘1. (...) through the rapid acceleration of science and technology, man has acquired the power to transform his environment in countless ways and on an unprecedented scale. Both aspects of man’s environment, the natural and the man-made, are essential to his well-being and to the enjoyment of basic human rights the right to life itself.
‘2. The protection and improvement of the human environment is a major issue which affects the well-being of peoples and economic development throughout the world; it is the urgent desire of the peoples of the whole world and the duty of all Governments.’
The 1987 report ‘Our Common Future’ by the UN World Commission on Environment and Development introduced the term ‘sustainable development’. This report is better known as ‘The Brundtland Report’, named after the commission’s chairman, former Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland.
Sustainable development is defined as: ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’
The Brundtland Report laid the groundwork for the convening of the 1992 Earth Summit and the adoption of Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration and to the establishment of the Commission on Sustainable Development.
Still, climate change and development communities have operated largely independent of each other, both in research and policy. This may be because climate change has been defined as a ‘science’ problem, not a social one.
Now we know environmental issues and climate change is a global issue. Pollution and climate change knows no national borders.
Climate change is the result of global inequality, over extraction of resources, mismanagement, unequal trade and business, and over development of the few both in west/north and in the south. For instance, the US consumption is 200 times higher than average Bangladeshi consumption.
The rich created the problem while poor are the victims. Countries like Bangladesh do not have the infrastructure to face climate change. Studies show the geography and demography makes Bangladesh especially vulnerable to climate change, both immediate effects as climate-change induced extreme weather, and gradual effects, as rising sea levels, deterioration in health, diminishing access to safe drinking water and increased susceptibility to disease.
Those hit the hardest will be people living on the Bangladesh coast, in riverine charland/haor basin, and poor living in urban slum migrated due to climatic events. Deprivation of resources may cause instability.
It is in Bangladesh’s interest to strongly demand international action against climate change. It is in Bangladesh’s interest to facilitate sustainable development. It is in Bangladesh’s interest to make environmental issues part of national laws and the national development strategy.
The world’s major human rights treaties were developed well before climate change was understood as the threat it is to human security.
As a result, the environmental dimension of these rights is not extensively articulated in the general declaration of human rights, the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), nor in the International Covenant of Human Rights (1966).
Yet there are many broad rights which are of course relevant when people’s lives come under threat from climate change:
The right to life
Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that ‘everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person’.
Similarly, Article 6.1 of the ICCPR states that ‘every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life’.
As articulated by the deputy high commissioner for human rights, climate change can have both a direct and indirect impact on human life. The effect may be immediate, as in the aftermath of climate-change induced extreme weather, or may appear gradually, as deterioration in health, diminishing access to safe drinking water and susceptibility to disease increases.
The right to adequate food
ICESCR Article 11.1 recognises ‘the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions’.
Climate change will detrimentally affect the right to food. Regional food production is likely to decline because of increased temperatures accelerating grain sterility; shifts in rainfall patterns rendering previously productive land infertile, accelerating erosion, desertification and reducing crop and livestock yields; rising sea levels making coastal land unusable and causing fish species to migrate; and an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events disrupting agriculture. Studies show Bangladesh will be hit especially hard.
The right to water
In 2002 the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognised that water itself was an independent right. As the earth gets warmer, heat waves and water shortages will make it difficult to access safe drinking water and sanitation.
The right to health
UDHR Article 25 states that ‘everyone has the right to the health and well-being of himself and his family’.
Article 12(a) of the ICESCR recognises the right of everyone to ‘the enjoyment of the highest standard of physical and mental health.’
Climate change poses significant risks to the right to health. A 2003 joint study by the World Health Organisation and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine warns that global warming may already be responsible for more than 160,000 deaths a year from malaria and malnutrition; a number that could double by 2020. This is just one of many findings in this and similar studies.
Human security
The right to security is also threatened by climate change. Rising global temperatures will jeopardise many people’s livelihoods, increasing their vulnerability to poverty and social deprivation. Increased competition over diminishing resources is likely to overwhelm local capacities to adapt, and will reinforce the trend towards general instability.
However, recognition of these precise connections between climate change and the international human rights law system is as yet undeveloped. As mentioned, no human rights to environment have been recognised in a general declaration of human rights.
The Rio Declaration (1992) states: ‘In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it’. The declaration also calls for all states to “enact effective environmental legislation.’
Agenda 21 states that sustainable development is the way to reverse both poverty and environmental destruction.
The Rio summit in 1992 also adapted the Convention on Biological Diversity (biodiversity). This is a legally binding document, and recognized for the first time in international law that the conservation of biodiversity is ‘a common concern of humankind’ and is an integral part of the development process
The convention has three main goals:
l conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity);
l sustainable use of its components; and
l fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources.
By contrast, at the regional level the human right to environment has been proclaimed in different charters and reports. Some examples:
African Charter of Human Rights – 1981
Article 24: ‘All peoples shall have the right to a general satisfactory environment favourable to their development.’
American Convention on Human Rights
Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, “Protocol of San Salvador”
Article 11: Right to a Healthy Environment
‘Everyone shall have the right to live in a healthy environment and to have access to basic public services. The States Parties shall promote the protection, preservation, and improvement of the environment.’
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of European Union Article 36, proclaims that ‘a high level of environmental protection and the improvement of the quality of environment (which) must be integrated into the policies of the Union and ensured in accordance with the principal of sustainable development’.
There are also constitutional commitments. In recent years, increased global awareness of the link between environment and human rights problems has motivated civil, political and human rights groups to encompass environmental dimensions.
Out of 196 nations in the world,
l 109 national constitutions mention the protection of the environment or natural resources.
l 100 of them recognise the right to a clean and healthy environment and/or the state’s obligation to prevent environmental harm,
l 53 constitutions explicitly recognise the right to a clean and healthy environment
l 92 make it the duty of the government to prevent harm to the environment.
Environmental human rights depend upon conservation. Conservation is best achieved through sustainable development and participation. Local people must be empowered for this to succeed. Institutions must be created to enforce the human right to environment.
The right to a healthy environment must be explicitly recognized as a basic human right in all UN declarations related to human rights. A convention must be adopted by the UN that recognizes connections between climate change, environment, and human rights. This convention must include a clear action plan.
To facilitate this convention, a UN special rapporteur should be appointed whose mandate is to monitor climate change and implement the right to a safe and secure natural environment and sustainable development.
Likewise, a permanent international institution must be set up by the UN to implement the adopted convention without selectivity and bias.
l The developed world should made to adhere to internationally agreed upon environmental standards and commitments to support developing countries in their need for adapting to environmental degradation brought by climate change.
A safe and healthy natural environment as a basic human right needs to be included in our constitution.
Existing environmental laws need to be revised in accordance with established human rights frameworks.
The following measures must be considered immediately:
l Climate change mitigation must come first by the global north.
l We should demand compensation by developed countries for environmental damage they’ve cause in the developing world, including that via climate change.
l Demand the transfer of technology for adaptation, as we observed lack of commitment of the developed countries in this regards.
Countries most affected by climate change should collectively initiate strong international advocacy and lobbying at UN level for environmental degradation due to climate change damage adaptation financing.
Bangladesh needs to formulate a community-based climate change effects adaptation plan and incorporate a union disaster management committee. Participatory planning is also needed in order to devise a plan of action towards addressing climate change in this country.
In regards to people living in Bangladesh’s coastal areas, the government should have a concrete plan to compensate for their losses. The government also needs to ensure area wise specific intervention measures that best suit the needs and requirement of those regions.
Zakir Hossain is joint secretary of the Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan
Source: New Age, June 11, 2008
Minimising the fallouts of climate change
Ms.Sonia Sultana
The impact of climate change is worldwide. For Bangladesh they are most critical as large part of the population is chronically exposed and vulnerable to a range of natural hazards .Now, the human suffering and cost to development is massive to the country and its population who are victims of human induced Global warming. Climate hazards, including extremes like floods, cyclones, tornado, storm surge, tidal bore, etc are not new to Bangladesh and the country has a scarred history claiming many lives and resulting in losses of assets, belongings. In Bangladesh in the past few decades, the effects of global warming have been evidenced in climate variability, change and extremes. More adverse impacts are projected for the coming decades, particularly low lying coastline and floodplain ecosystems which characterize Bangladesh.
To understand how climate change will impact Bangladesh in future, influence its development aspiration and define its roadmap for sustainable development, three considerations critical. location, population, economy.
The location of Bangladesh is in a deltaic plain of major basin, making it susceptible to foods and cyclones. The country is extremely populated in a small area and one of the most densely populated in the World. The country is also very poor and a majority live below subsistence level, making them already vulnerable.
Scientists tell us that the most profoundly damaging impact of climate change in Bangladesh will take form in floods, salinity intrusion, temperature increase and droughts, all of which will drastically affect crop productivity and food security. We will also face riverbank erosion, sea water level rise and lack of fresh water in the coastal zones. The prognosis is more extreme floods in a country already devastated by floods; less food for our country in which half our children already don't have enough to eat; and less clean water for where waterborne diseases are already responsible for 24 percent of all deaths. Bangladesh is one of the world's largest deltas, formed by a dense network of 230 unstable rivers; most of the country is less than 10 meters above sea level. Were the Earth to warm by just one degree Celsius, 11 percent of Bangladesh would be submerged, putting the lives of 55 million people in danger. Most scientists-including the UK government's David King-expect a two-degree increase. It is almost impossible to imagine how Bangladesh will cope with this situation.
Preventive Measures:
Building adaptive capacity to climate change and managing climate risks will be addressed through the mainstreaming of climate risk into sustainable development strategies. To do this successfully requires awareness and understanding of climate change issues. These actions should build on existing coping methods. Communication between communities will allow copies strategies to be shared.
Capacity building and promoting partnerships-climate change cell promotes partnership with both government and non-government agencies to service long term and immediate needs. In this respect, a total of 34 focal points have been established in different government agencies, academic institutes, research institutes and organizations.
Mainstreaming climate change into development plans and processes-Mainstreaming climate change is to engage in a systematic, comprehensive effort to reduce the negative impacts of climate change through integration into overall national development and planning process of the country.
Disaster risk reduction with climate change adaptation offers a win-win opportunity-climate system is fundamental for both issues: 75% of all disasters are originated by weather-climate extremes. Disaster risk reduction and adaptation to climate change strategies both are aimed at enhancing sustainability, resilient societies and human security. Similar sectoral focus, complexities & challenges, rely on same type of measures and policies. Disaster risk reduction offers opportunities for bottom-up strategies for adaptation to current climate variability and climate extremes. In this respect, disaster risk reduction can promote early adaptation to climate risks and impacts. The comprehensive Disaster Management Programmed (CDMP) of the government should implement and supervise properly.
A Country Framework for Climate Resilient Development-The government should develop a country framework to ensure national development is resilient to climate change and its impacts in such a way that the lives, live hood and well being of its people is sustained over time.
National Adaptation programmes of Action- Immediate implementation of as an outcome of the climate change convention, National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) which provide a process for least development countries to identify priority activities that respond to their urgent and immediate needs with regard to adaptation to climate change.
A National Climate Change Policy and Action Plan -To harness, guide and coordinate all the national and international responses and processes to integrate climate risk into development plans and processes, the government, through it's department of Environment has recently launched the preparation of the climate change policy and action plan for Bangladesh. It should ensure that these programs are done properly according to the demand of natural environment. Plan should address the needs and priorities of the country and will come into practice with mainstreaming climate risk management and adaptation using the country framework as an operational tool.
Source: The New Nation, June 11, 2008
Dhaka should plan seriously to address climate refugee issue
UNFPA Representative Arthur Erken tells
Porimol Palma
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) applauds Bangladesh's proactive stance on climate change, for which the country is not responsible but is likely to witness displacement of millions of people and agricultural loss due to floods and sea level rise.
Emphasising the urgent need to further reduce the birth rate in an already highly populated land, the UN body also calls upon both developed and developing nations to find out ways to ensure that millions of people will not be uprooted from their lands.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Star, the UNFPA Representative in Bangladesh Arthur Erken made this observation on the basis of his one-year experience of serving in Bangladesh and his previous experiences of working in the field of population and development.
"Bangladesh is likely to experience serious consequences of the expected rises in sea levels. Millions living in the coastal areas and on the islands will probably move to urban areas putting additional pressures on the already fragile infrastructures in those townships. Bangladesh should seriously plan for this, keeping these issues in mind," he said.
As remedies to these problems, he suggested improvements in water management, boosting agricultural production by applying the latest technologies, creating employment opportunities for rural people flowing into the urban