Storms, floods, and monsoons have been part of Bangladesh’s narrative throughout history. However, as climate change accelerates, it brings about a myriad of extremely devastating weather changes, such as cyclones and droughts, as well as the aforementioned catastrophic floods and storm surges. For a nation like Bangladesh, the consequences of climate change bring serious side effects like a decrease in access to fresh food and water, lack of adequate jobs, healthcare and education, and an exponential increase in migration and exploitation. If Bangladesh seeks to combat the effects of climate change, it must first adequately address the needs of the people.
Bangladesh is home to approximately 165 million people and approximately 55 million of them live along the coast. However, over the last decade, nearly 700,000 people, primarily those living along the coast, have been displaced from their homes on average every year due to natural disasters. As individuals flee, many migrate to urban slums including Dhaka and Mongla where they must adapt to working as domestic workers, waste pickers, garment factory workers, and other odd jobs. In addition, of the 12 million children affected, many head to Dhaka where they must adjust to dangerous forms of labor, early marriages, exploitation, and abuse.
Once in these megacities, climate migrants are forced to live in deplorable conditions where cholera, diarrhea, and fevers run rampant because of the lack of infrastructure and regulations in place. For instance, climate migrants cannot avoid but rely on chira (dry, flattened rice) and bathe in the Buriganga River which contains chemical waste from factories, household garbage and other pollutants. Unfortunately, local officials are unwilling to enact policies that would benefit slum dwellers. For instance, Tariq bin Yousuf, a senior official at the Dhaka City Corporation, claims that the city prefers leaving migrants reliant on aid that is not from governmental organizations because migrants are essentially seen as squatters. Migrants are essentially being denied basic human rights as a result of being targeted by climate change.
On the other hand, individuals who choose not to migrate avoid these hardships however, nonetheless they face devastating obstacles of their own. Farmers are often forced to shift from paddy farming to shrimp cultivation which results in job reduction and regularly bringing in saltier water inland which degrades the land further. Others live in constant fear of whether or not their homes will be washed away by strong currents and as a result avoid cultivating their land. Few are even left with no choice but to flee to India where they must reside as undocumented migrants.
The Bangladeshi government has responded to this growing crisis through means of investing over 10 billion dollars in climate change action, increasing government responsiveness to climate emergencies, equipping vulnerable areas with better resources, etc. Additionally, the government has various environmental laws in place and has also opened the Global Centre on Adaptation which will be assisting the nation in efforts to adapt to climate change. However, considering that storms such as the 2007 cyclone Sidr brought about 1.7 billion dollars in damage on top of the 1.1 billion dollars of losses due to monsoon flooding in the previous year, Bangladesh’s government should be addressing climate change more aggressively because their economy cannot afford to take such losses. Not to mention their efforts in aiding the nation’s climate crisis should be taking place at a faster rate since every year an area about the size of Manhattan washes away.
Ultimately, in order to not only conserve Bangladesh itself but also protect its 165 million residents, the government must make addressing climate change its first priority and work alongside various organizations such as BRAC, an NGO that aids farmers in adapting to weather conditions and other local organizations. Without adequate government intervention rampant migration, displacement, and exploitation will continue to take place at astonishing rates and Bangladesh will become a nation that once was.
