A recent report by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that people worldwide are going to suffer severe consequences if global warming is not mitigated soon.
It is undeniable that the impacts of climate change have been intensifying. Extreme weather events are more common compared to 20 years ago. Intense rain and temperature change are more frequent. Zoonotic diseases are spreading more than before. Retaining a healthy ecology and rich biodiversity is essential to prevent these disruptions, expert UN bodies continue to stress.
Ensuring that will help achieve sustainability. The report also ominously predicted that this year might be the coolest of the current century given the continuous warming of the pancet. Governments of the world are not going to achieve the 1.5C cap promised in the Paris Agreement, according to the IPCC. Greenhouse gas emission is actually increasing. The average emission for the last few decades surpassed all previous records.
To hit the 1.5C mark, CO2 emission has to be cut down by nearly 50% by 2030 and it has to reach net zero by 2050. And the way to do that is to rapidly decrease the use of fossil fuels.
Bangladesh, a country of 17 crore people, is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world with floods, cyclones, droughts, river bank erosion, water logging, and salinity intrusion, among other impacts of climate change affecting the country’s agriculture, infrastructure and people’s lives.
Bangladesh is also very vulnerable to natural calamities because of its geographical location. Bangladesh is mainly composed of plain and low-lying land. With over 80% of the country’s land susceptible to flooding, climate change is therefore an extremely important matter for Bangladesh’s people and its government. Nearly two third of the population are involved in agriculture, making them one of the most affected people by climate change. The World Bank has warned that Bangladesh would be hit hardest by climate change by 2100 with the sea level rising three feet every day, causing severe flooding and destruction of crops. All of these impacts will exacerbate poverty and inflation.
UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG-13) addresses climate change and requires urgent action to fight its impacts. SDG 13 targets are:
13.1. Strengthening resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries,
13.2. Integrating climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning,
13.3. Improving education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning,
13.a Implementing the commitment undertaken by developed-country parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilising jointly $100 billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through its capitalization as soon as possible, and
13.b Promoting mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in the least developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalised communities
To limit global temperature rise by 2030, carbon emissions must be cut down by 26 gigatonnes, which means each country has to cut down emissions by 30%. 2030 is barely eight years away. So, if urgent planning and implementation don’t take place then the world will be in much greater danger by then.
The Bangladesh government has taken initiatives like the ‘Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan’ and the ‘Planetary Emergency’ plan, among other initiatives. To implement these plans, the government needs to partner with the private sector and create joint initiatives.
As part of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes, companies like BSRM, Marico Bangladesh, Unilever, Coca-Cola, and multinational tobacco companies run various projects. Projects like ‘Banayan’ are contributing significantly to the forestation of the country. Under the ‘Banayan’ project, more than 12 crore trees have been planted in 22 districts in the last 42 years, playing an important role in mitigating climate change impacts, as well as achieving SDGs.
Forestation in particular will have a great long-term impact on combating climate change. It will also have a very direct effect on improving socio-economic conditions, which will be invaluable. The ‘Banayan’ project is enabling local people to consume fruits and enjoy the benefits of medicinal plants. They are also benefiting by selling trees. It is also helping them face the challenge of ensuring livestock feed, which is now possible to acquire from trees.
The project has been so impactful that 77 per cent of the total people benefiting directly from the initiative are able to earn because of the forestation project. 49 per cent of those who are benefiting said their income increased because of the project, and which they invested in other businesses. The money earned has been instrumental in starting new agricultural production or small shops.
In addition to helping retain the environment healthy, the planned forestation is providing income for the people. Initiatives like these are absolutely indispensable for achieving SDG targets.
When private sector initiatives like this one are making such an impact, a new proposed amendment to the tobacco control law by the health ministry is seeking to ban CSR. But doing so will hinder many initiatives that attempt to mitigate climate change impacts. Also, importantly, hundreds of thousands of people benefiting from these initiatives will be impacted negatively if CSR activities get banned. The government should focus on encouraging the private sector so that it can continue to implement more projects that will help the country.
Writer: Lecturer, Mass Communication and Journalism, Jagannath University
