Each of us should refrain from any activity that can prevent nature from following its normal course. ‘Climate change’ has emerged as one of the greatest challenges the world has ever faced. Every one of us should do his/her part in addressing the ‘climate change’ issue. Countrywide mass awareness programs against the causes of global warming have to be launched. Educated persons of the society should come forward to take the lead of such a mass awareness campaign. Different Govt. organizations, NGOs and other institutions should come into one platform to reduce the negative impacts of global warming. A countrywide forestation campaign has to be launched. Deforestation activities in different parts of the country should be stopped immediately. Tough law against deforestation and other activities that harms the environment has to be formulated. Bangladeshi coastal peoples are already experiencing the negative impacts of global warming with increasing number and frequency of natural calamities like flood, cyclone, etc. Bangladesh Govt. should raise the issue in an appropriate international forum vigorously. Bangladesh Govt. should seek financial assistance for different projects, designed to mitigate the impact of global warming in coastal areas, from developed countries, which are most responsible for climate change. The dangers facing our coastal areas due to global warming should be presented before the developed countries so that they are convinced about the seriousness of the problem.
Now a day climate change has become the most environmental concern for the world community. Governments across the globe are taking various initiatives to reduce carbon emission the root cause of global warming. As a result of global warming sea level is rising and coastal areas across the globe becoming uninhabitable because of the increasing number and frequency of cyclones. Since developed countries are most responsible for carbon emission therefore it is their responsibility to contribute to victim countries’ efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Developed countries should lead efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Developed countries should also develop adaptation techniques then supply those to sufferers free of cost. No doubt, the effects of global warming are day by day making many people homeless. An international mechanism has to be developed to absorb these homeless people into developed countries. However, different international donor agencies including the UN have been increasing their activities in addressing the impacts of climate change. There has been an increasing number of international conferences on environmental protection in recent years through a comprehensive agreement among countries on environmental protection that remained elusive.
Recently world leaders concluded their summit on climate change on December 18, 2009. The summit failed to reach a binding agreement. Negotiating parties of the summit had been unable to overcome their differences over taking responsibility for carbon emission cuts. Developing nations have been arguing that, since the developed world is the biggest emitter it should shoulder most responsibilities concerning carbon emission cut and providing adaptation funds to sufferer countries. The developed world wants the responsibilities to be distributed equally between the developing and developed world. Finally, a non-binding agreement was reached between the developing countries led by India and China and developed world led by the USA and EU. It was agreed that talks will continue and a binding agreement would be reached in Mexico next year. After the apparent failure of the meeting in Copenhagen, opposition parties have been blaming each other for the failure. But this blame game should be stopped immediately and ways to tackle the challenges of climate change together have to be worked out because the negative impacts of climate change would not spare any country. A separate multinational institution like the IMF and UN could be established to look after different aspects of climate change blamed on global warming because it represents the single most significant threat to the world. Such an institution would provide a permanent common platform to discuss day by day problems brought by global warming and climate change. Coastal regions of low lying countries are on the risk of going undersea due to rising sea levels. Affected countries like the Maldives, Nepal are trying through various means like holding cabinet meeting undersea and over the Himalayas to draw the attention of the world to the dangers of global warming. Bangladesh has been one of the most seriously affected countries of climate change blamed on global warming. The coastal belt of Bangladesh for the past several years has been experiencing increased frequency of storms, increased salinity of farmlands which are affecting crop production and daily livelihood in the region seriously. Due to repeated storms the number of homeless people is now increasing in the coastal belt. An increasing number of Bangladeshi people from the coastal region are now moving to different cities for life and food security thus putting extra pressure on the already densely populated cities. A Bangladeshi delegation also participated in the summit with Prime Minister attending the last two days of the summit. The government climes to be successful in presenting the climate woes of the country before the world community, but the climes could only be justified if the country gets its due share of adaptation funds and technology. Instead of waiting for help from rich countries Bangladesh should develop its own capabilities like adaptation technology and food security to effectively deal with climate change issue.
If these trends continue unabated then it would not be too far from now when the country’s shrinking forest area will reach a point of no return. Even at present, the country has one of the lowest per capita forest lands in the world. Since Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change it should have in place a robust mechanism to protect its forests and ecosystem, but things always appear contrary. If this is the situation in the reserved forests which are specially protected, then it can be assumed that the situation in other normal forests is worst. In addition to protecting the existing forests, the government should make substantial investments to increase the country’s greenery and adopting new strategies of tree plantation. This kind of measure will help reduce the impacts of climate change.
Encroaching of rivers, land grabbing, dumping of waste into rivers and illegal destruction of the forest all are equally causing damage to the environment. To effectively deal with these sorts of things both the capacity and authority of DoF and DoE need to be strengthened.
This is a very good initiative. The changing trend towards going green all over the world has provided us with a big opportunity to revive the lost glory of our jute industry. Since there is already an established base of the jute sector in the country it would take less labor to revive the sector. We have the raw jute production base; the industrial base; many years of both expertise and experience in producing diversified jute products and the cottage industries across the country which manufactures various jute products. With all these advantages on the ground, the government just needs a strategy to improve coordination among the said segments and make an effort to address their concerns. Many countries across the globe have been promoting and encouraging the use of green technology and green products. If needed, the government should work with those countries. Given the vulnerability that Bangladesh faces regarding global warming, investment in the jute sector and its industrial development will also help the country in its fight against climate change. And the government could consider making the development of jute sector as a part of its climate battle.
Video: Consequences of Climate Change
If an agreement on greenhouse gas emission reduction is to be reached, then the rich countries must make considerable compromises to poor countries because they are the major emitter. The use of clean and renewable energy should be increased worldwide. To increase its efficiency more and more research should be carried out on renewable energy development. For this purpose, a special fund has to be allocated in the fiscal budgets of governments and donor agencies. Worldwide agriculture production is being hampered due to irregular weather patterns caused by the effects of global warming, as a result, the food security of the poorer peoples could not be ensured.
This is unfortunate that a lawmaker encourages the plundering of forests. The worst thing is that in most of the cases influential quarters are aiding the destruction of forests. Rather, lawmakers and other influential peoples were usually expected to play the lead role in protecting the environment and forests. The government has to go tough against such unscrupulous activities no matter what the identity of those involved. If need be the government could consider amending relevant laws including the British era Forest Act 1912 with provisions for harsh punishments against violators. Also making law is not always enough. Considering the gravity of the problem there should be a countrywide campaign to make people aware of the impacts of environmental degradation, destruction of biodiversity and other such activities. People’s participation is a must in any drive to protect the country’s forests and biodiversity because of their close interaction with forests, rivers, etc. Better coordination among government departments including police, DoE and lower-tier administrations is vital to make such drives a success.
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