The Asia-Pacific region is no stranger to climate change. In just the last few months, it has endured droughts, record-breaking heat, and multiple super typhoons, a bout of extreme weather that experts say will only get worse as the planet warms. This week, leaders are in Malaysia for Asia Pacific Climate Week, an event designed to explore solutions to the most pressing climatic …
Pay attention to what poor communities want and need
Though agriculture has helped to reduce poverty in Bangladesh, families who depend on small-scale farming still struggle economically. The climate crisis is exacerbating their problems, and they are the least able to adapt.
When Bangladesh became independent in 1971, it was an agrarian country with low incomes on average. Today, agriculture is no longer dominant, contributing only about 14 % to gross domestic product. Nonetheless, the sector still matters very much. It employs a bit less than half of the workforce and accounts for almost 60 % of female employment. Rural livelihoods in the country’s …
Climate change, beyond the politicians
In Bangladesh and elsewhere, people are devoted to tackling climate change – regardless of what world leaders do this week
I have been working on climate change for many years, first as a researcher in my native Bangladesh and later as head of the climate change group at the International Institute for Environment and Development, and as a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. I have seen first-hand the threats climate change poses in places such as the …
The youth wants reparations, not charity or debt
What the climate crisis requires is action, not more words
In September last year, my organization YouthNet for Climate Justice, facilitated a joint oversight visit with parliamentarians and youth groups in the climate-affected areas of Bangladesh to observe the ground realities. As part of this field visit, we hosted some climate dialogues and heard the voices on the frontlines. Among many of the community people who faced the negative consequences …
Coordinated action needed to combat climate crisis
The world is already feeling the impacts of human-induced climate change
Over the last few weeks, I have been in Europe, and it seemed that everywhere I went, there were record-breaking weather events. And these events are unequivocally linked to human-induced climate change due to the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which are causing the global temperature to rise. Let me briefly describe some of these extreme weather events that I …
Women as rightful leaders of the movement to solve the climate crisis
Disclaimer: The issue presented, and thoughts expressed in the articles are of the authors, it does not necessarily represent the organization’s mission and program priorities
Every year International Women’s Day (March 8) honours women’s accomplishments, while also raising awareness on the issues they face. The day calls for the celebration of inclusion, and gender diversity, recognizing women and girls in all walks of life who are leading the charge to break free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination to forge women’s equality. In the year 2021, …
How is Bangladesh writing the history of adaptation?
Our nation’s role as a vanguard against the climate crisis is indisputable
After the publication of the third assessment report of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2001, the world came to realize that adverse impacts of human- induced climate change would become inevitable and unavoidable and hence all countries had to prepare for those adverse impacts through adaptation. A corollary of that finding was that while all countries, both …
Lessons learnt from cyclone Amphan and the way forward
Cyclone Amphan should be treated as an eye opener and foreshadowing of what is to come
Bangladesh – a country with one of the highest rates of vulnerability to disasters and extreme weather event is a major rea of discussion for climate change related experts, academicians and development practitioners. After the devastating cyclone Amphan, which left several coastal districts shattered in May, 2020; numerous studies, reports and articles have been published – focusing not only …
Living through a climate crisis
Climate Tribune | June 2021 List of Articles Datinakhali village battles climate crisis– Sumaiya Binte Anwar Impacts of cyclones on women and girls and the way forward–Afsara Binte Mirza and Adeeba Nuraina Risha How climate change exacerbates sanitation problems in the rural areas–Adnan Qader Regional cities: A space for planned urban development in Bangladesh– Istiakh Ahmed Cyclone prediction and preparedness by …
Adaptation finance at the conflux of climate crisis, Covid-19 and debt distress
Covid-19 has hit all countries of the world, both rich and poor, but the low income countries (LICs) are hit hardest, and half of them are at high risk of or are already in debt distress. Although in April this year, the G20 Finance Ministers endorsed a Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) to grant temporary relief to the LICs to …
