Climate Change in Bangladesh
The Catastrophic Impacts of Climate Change
Climate change is having a devastating effect on some of the world's poorest countries, such as Bangladesh, which are paying the price for the policies and actions of wealthier nations, as Saba Yasin explains.
Bangladesh is one of the world’s most densely populated countries, with a population of 167 million (source: UN data June 2022). It is also one of the nations most affected by climate change and enduring its worst floods in more than a century.
Heavy flash floods in June, following similar flooding in May, caused dozens of fatalities; affected more than 4.2 million people who were left isolated, and led to the transfer of more than 470,000 individuals by military and public agencies to 1,600 emergency shelters.
According to the World Health Organisation, 14 districts in the country’s north-east were affected, with the impact especially severe in Sylhet and Sunamganj districts. WHO reported that as well as the direct damage to homes and infrastructure, disease and illnesses were rapidly rising due to contaminated water.
Global experts said the devastating rains that triggered the floods and submerged a large part of the country were a direct outcome of climate change. Bangladesh is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries when it comes to the consequences of climate change, which disproportionately affects the poor and vulnerable as they lose their livelihoods, agriculture, infrastructure and supplies of clean water.
There is also the human cost. As UNICEF states: “Around 12 million of the children most affected [by climate change] live in and around the powerful river systems which flow through Bangladesh and regularly burst their banks.
“The last major flooding of the Brahmaputra River in 2017 inundated at least 480 community health clinics and damaged some 50,000 tube wells, essential for meeting communities’ safe water needs.”
When floods strike, vital necessities are cut off and it is the poorest who find themselves without life-saving communication, food, water, and medicines. With thousands of toilets and wells destroyed, these people lose access to basic sanitation and are most at risk from the spread of potentially fatal diseases.
The threat could not be clearer. Here’s a breakdown of some of the major ways other than the devastating flooding in which climate change threatens Bangladesh.
- Rising Sea Levels: It has been estimated that by 2050, one in every seven people in Bangladesh will be displaced by climate change
- With a projected 19.6 inches (50 cm) rise in sea levels, Bangladesh may lose approximately 11% of its land by then, and up to 18 million people may have to migrate due to the rise in sea levels
- Cyclones: The Bay of Bengal narrows towards its northern shore where it meets the south coast of Bangladesh. This “funnelling” can both direct cyclones towards Bangladesh’s coast and make them more intense. These effects – combined with the fact that most of Bangladesh’s territory is low, flat terrain – can make storm surges catastrophic.
Talking about climate effects in Bangladesh cannot be complete without mentioning the staggering injustice that Bangladesh faces. Because overwhelmingly, climate impacts are being forced on Bangladesh by high-emitting, wealthy countries, not by the people of Bangladesh themselves.
As a country, Bangladesh emits a fraction of the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change. Perhaps more telling, the average person in Bangladesh emits 0.5 metric tons of CO2 per year, whereas in the UK this number is about 5.4 metric tons.
For Bangladesh, as well as for so many other countries and for everyone’s shared future, the time to act on climate change is now.
To find out more about what Islamic Help is doing about climate change and how you can play a part, please go to here
We are providing emergency aid and essentials for those affected by the latest floods in Bangladesh. You can donate to our emergency appeal here
