As a climate change victim, should we invest in coal-based power plants? 

Bangladesh is one of the worst victims of climate change. Miles and miles of land in southern Bangladesh have lost fertility because of saline water intrusion. The sea level is rising, rendering tens of thousands of people homeless. Natural disasters like cyclones and floods have been striking much more frequently, while summers mean an exponential rise in temperature.   

Bangladesh is continuously sinking deeper into perils.    

Bangladesh is seeking help from developed countries, many of whom are the biggest polluters in the world. For instance, China is responsible for 30 percent of the world's carbon emissions, alone. And one of the main drivers of its pollution are its countless coal-fired power plants. 

Global climate summit, COP26, kicked off yesterday in the United Kingdom where leaders from 196 countries will discuss how to tackle climate change and curb greenhouse gas emissions. Bangladesh is also taking part in the summit to speak on her dire climate change realities, a result of the world's major economies' (including China, United States, India, Russia and Japan) contribution to climate change.  

A victim, surely, but the country is committing to projects that are far from green. Critics say that Bangladesh is investing more and more in coal-fired power plants, which will ultimately increase carbon emission manifolds. 

"Bangladesh is going in the opposite direction. On one hand, the government is saying on international forums that Bangladesh needs money and assistance. On the other hand, the government is building coal-fired power plants even in the coastal area," said professor Anu Muhammad, member secretary of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports. 

"The ongoing projects are totally contradictory," added the professor. 

He said that firstly Bangladesh needs to organise campaigns globally to mitigate the impact of climate change. Secondly, Bangladesh needs to design its development model in such a way that climate change is addressed domestically.

Anu Muhammad believes, otherwise, the moral stance of Bangladesh will prove to be weak in the international area, because then the country cannot strongly raise her voice in the international forum. 

"If Bangladesh scraped the Rampal power project, and stopped setting up further coal-based power plants, then Bangladesh can demand in the international forum that we have changed our development model and now it is your turn," said Anu Muhammad. 

"The government is causing damage in its own country, so what would be the point of demanding funds," asked Anu Muhammad, reiterating that we must reduce our dependence on coal-fired power plants and that new coal-based power plan projects should be abandoned.  

Transparency International Bangladesh, at a recent  press conference, said that the government has 19 coal-fired power plants under construction in the country. And once they all go into operation, Bangladesh will be emitting 63% more carbon than it does today. And this will make the country one of the biggest polluters in Asia in the future. 

"There are many projects in the list of implementation, which have not started yet. The government should scrap those projects too," said Dr. Iftekharuzzaman, executive director, Transparency International Bangladesh. He also pointed out that we are already producing more power than the country's existing demand, which makes these power plants even more unnecessary. 

Critics say as Bangladesh is leading the list of climate vulnerable countries in the world, we must not take any initiatives which increase carbon emission.

"Otherwise, world leaders will not put faith in us. We have to prove that we are very much clean and engaged in the global arena," said professor M Shamsul Alam, energy adviser, Consumers Association of Bangladesh. 

He said that Bangladesh's position is among the affected countries, which has been proven and recognised. We will have to put pressure on polluters to pay carbon tax and to compensate victim countries like Bangladesh, he added.

"Now is the time to be more clamorous in the climate change movement. There is no denying that we are on the verge of destruction," said M Shamsul Alam.