Written evidence submitted by the European
Action Group on Climate Change in Bangladesh
Following Select Committee's meeting on 8 Dec
2009 at St Mathias Centre in East London we are submitting our
concerns:
An adaptation budget of US Dollars 700k has been
allocated by the Bangladesh Government, but further assistance
is needed to expand the work. Various structural efforts have
already been taken by the Government in Bangladesh: the building
of cyclone shelters and of an early warning system, raising the
level of embankments/roads, etc. Basic needs like arrangements
for clean water, acceptable sanitation/health facilities, education
and livelihood must be ensured even for emergency situations,
as emergencies occur very frequently. Investments should primarily
be aimed at enhancing the resilience capability of the population,
with provisions for the regular updating of infrastructures (including
interactive map dissemination). Priority should be given to maintain
the quality of water, soil and air. Here both a macro- and micro-level
approach should be followed. The harvesting of solar energy, the
recycling of biodegradable waste, and safe disposal of hazardous
waste should get proper attention. Under any kind of calamity,
the existing infrastructure collapse will worsen the people's
living environment.
While the UK DFID's extra £75 million is
welcomed, DFID along with the Bangladesh government should agree
and manage programmes falling under the country's agenda for response.
This should be seen as part of a wider objective where Bangladesh's
democratically elected government should be allowed to allocate
funds towards securing its future.
The key point is about additionality. Without
funds being additional to existing aid commitments, the fight
against global poverty will be reversed. Oxfam estimates that
at least 75 million fewer children are likely to attend school
and 8.6 million fewer people could have access to HIV/AIDS treatment
globally, if money that would otherwise have been spent on health
and education is diverted to tackle climate change. It is crucial
that funds for adaptation and mitigation of the effects of climate
change transferred from the developed to the developing world,
be in addition to existing aid budgets.
There is a disconnect between ordinary people
and climate change in Bangladesh, where it is not high on the
agenda of political parties. This is an existential issue and
should be on top of the agenda. Too much of the existing climate
change debate is conducted in unintelligible terms, which shuts
out the people we are supposed to be talking about. We need to
change the terms of the debate. Bangladesh is in the frontline
of the war against climate change. There is a disconnect between
the `exclusive conversation' among academics and NGOs as opposed
to the diaspora.
Both the UK and Bangladesh along with other
agencies could take the lead in mobilizing civil society in both
countries, as they have the network to reach out to grassroots'
communities. The gender issue should get appropriate attention,
as patriarchal attitudes towards women have negative impact on
society at large. The needs of women differ from those of men.
There needs to be much greater attention for
the impact of climate change on public health. In Bangladesh,
the health effects of climate change are widespread. Besides the
systemic effect of desertification, recurrent flooding related
diseases and physical trauma due to natural disasters, the country
also faces an epidemic of disabling arsenic poisoning and an increase
in the salt level in the water of major rivers in the coastal
areas, as recently exposed. The study undertaken by medical students,
community health professionals and the Statistics Department of
the Imperial College of London in collaboration with the Primary
Care Centre in Bangladesh, published in the reputed medical journal
The Lancet in 2007, has shown that due to the rise in sea levels
the sodium chloride level in river and surface water areas has
caused a widespread increase in blood pressure among the normal
young population living in the coastal areas (as compared to people
living in the north). This will cause millions of premature deaths
in the long term, if the problem is not dealt with now. This is
the kind of silent impact that is not being taken seriously enough.
It will mean that these people's life expectancy will be significantly
reduced.
Rises in sea levels are already having a dramatic
impact on Bangladesh. The government needs to begin now with creating
jobs and opportunities for people who live in dangerous coastal
areas and have no other options.
Finally, since Bangladeshis have more experience
than most in dealing with environmental disasters, the country
should take the lead in deciding how to cope in the decades ahead.
Ansar Ahmed Ullah
Convenor
Syed Enam
Joint Convenor
8 December 2009
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