Coordinated efforts essential for preventing climate change hazards: Environmentalists
Salinity in the coastal region has increased 26% over the past 35 years, which has put the people of this region at health risk
Experts have expressed fear that without a coordinated effort to prevent humanitarian crises caused by climate change in the country's southwest coastal region, the area will become uninhabitable in the near future.
"From 1991 to 2020, Bangladesh has faced 197 major disasters due to climate change, which has created other crises in the livelihood, resources, food, water, and shelter of the people of this country," said Mohon Kumar Mondal, executive director of Local Environment Development and Agricultural Research Society (Ledars) at a programme yesterday.
The adverse effects of climate change are more severe in the southwest coastal region. Salinity in the coastal region has increased by 26% over the past 35 years, which has put the people of this region at health risk, said Mohon Kumar Mondal at the dialogue titled "Climate Crisis-Poverty-Disaster: Integrated initiative needed to prevent humanitarian crisis in southwest coastal region," organised by Sundarbans and Coast Protection Movement in the capital.
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Mentioning that the number of pregnant women with pre-eclampsia and high blood pressure has increased by 6.8%-39.5% in different areas affected by salinity, Mohon Kumar Mondal demanded effective measures be taken in order to overcome the crisis.
He demanded the declaration of Satkhira, Khulna and Bagerhat districts as disaster-prone areas, formulation of special plans to protect the south-west coastal region, and a special allocation in the budget for FY24.
He also demanded the scope of social security programmes in coastal upazilas in Khulna, Satkhira and Bagerhat districts be widened, taking into account climate risk, poverty, and vulnerability levels.
He further demanded large-scale tree plantation programmes and green belts on the coast, islands and grasslands, to prevent storm surges, river erosion, and soil erosion.
At the event, Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Md Shahab Uddin, said 52% of the Sundarbans forest has been declared as protected areas and extraction of all kinds of forest resources has been banned there.
The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has taken up projects or programmes related to capacity building and human resource development of local communities at the grassroots level to deal with the risk of climate change in the coastal areas, he said.
The minister said, "The National Climate Adaptation Plan has been finalised to deal with the risks posed by the impact of climate change. It includes the necessary measures needed for dealing with the potential risks in the Sundarbans and other areas. In addition, the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund has been set up. About eight hundred projects have been undertaken so far with financing from this fund."
He said appropriate programmes are being taken and implemented to alleviate poverty through capacity building of the local population. Four new ponds have been dug and 84 ponds have been re-excavated for supplying potable water to foresters and people depending on the forest and wildlife inside the Sundarbans.
To protect the life and property of the people in coastal areas during storms and floods, the government has taken up a programme to create a green belt through extensive afforestation along the coast. So far, 2,277 square kilometers of chars have been forested, he added.
