Bangladesh to Seek Climate Fund

At least 20 million Bangladeshis, of a total population of about 150 million, will be driven from their homes if sea levels rise by one metre. Many more will be affected if glaciers in the Himalayas melt due to global warming. In view of these statistics, Bangladesh is seeking 15 percent of any funding donated by rich countries at Copenhagen to ward off the impact of climate change.

Cyclones, tidal bores, droughts and extreme weather patterns are already affecting the country. Zohurul Karim, Climate Change expert from Bangladesh says Bangladesh is rated as one of the most vulnerable countries. He states, "Actually the country is hardly more than one meter above sea level. About 90 percent of the country is like that. Only 10 percent comprises hills. So even with 20 to 30 cm rise in the sea level a major portion of it will be inundated. And also saline water intrusion will take place to a large extent."

Climate change in developing countries

According to Dhaka, all developed nations have a responsibility to help the under developed or the developing countries to cope up with climate change problems. For this there is a fund. Qazi Kholiqurzzaman Ahmad, a renowned economist and also a part of the Bangladesh negotiation team explains the climate fund: "If funds and technology are provided then the developing countries can respond to the impact of climate change which is becoming more and more severe. And Bangladesh is the most vulnerable country given the size of the population and the problems it faces in terms of rising sea levels and natural disasters."

Bangladesh has said that during the Copenhagen meetings it would demand that the 29 developed countries mostly responsible for greenhouse gas emissions make contributions of 1.5 percent of their GDP to a climate change adaption fund. Ahmad says the population of Bangladesh is bigger than the entire population of all island countries in the world, so it should get at least 15 percent of any climate fund.

Financing the fight on climate change

Ahmad says that for coastal afforestation, the process of making rivers navigable, and the rehabilitation of its people, the country would need around 10 billion dollars in funding for a period of several years.

Bangladesh has already invested 10 billion dollars to build defences and contain risk associated with natural disaster. The majority of it has come from donor agencies. It is the greatest challenge for Bangladesh to maximise the investment and minimise the risk of natural disaster. In 2008 the Dhaka government prepared an action plan on climate change, which forms the basis of the discussions in Copenhagen. Karim, a climate change expert, says that the problem has many dimensions.

"The most important areas are the coastal embankments," says Karim. "These areas require huge investment, then agriculture adaptation and also the awareness building accommodation and caring for the people that would be affected. There are shelter homes and climate school that are part of the action plan."

From the Bangladeshi perspective, financing the efforts of poor countries and giving them technological support is a key plank of the central agenda in the Copenhagen discussions to confront climate change. They hope that western countries will seeing things the same way.

Author: Debarati Mukherjee
Editor: Grahame Lucas