[🇧🇩] Save the Rivers/Forests/Hills-----Save the Environment

[Saif]

Drive against resorts occupying Gazipur forest land soon: Saber

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury yesterday said that operations will be conducted soon against the resort and other establishments illegally established by occupying forest land in Gazipur

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Drive against resorts occupying Gazipur forest land soon: Saber

PHOTO: PID

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury yesterday said that operations will be conducted soon against the resort and other establishments illegally established by occupying forest land in Gazipur.

A map of illegal forest land encroachment will be prepared. Irrespective of government institutions, private individuals, and organisations encroaching on forest land, action will be immediate. There will be no compromise on this, he said.

The minister said 26,000 acres of forest land have been restored. Urgent measures will be taken in the districts around Dhaka.

Saber Hossain said these things at the meeting held in the conference room of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change today regarding the protection of forest land and the control of environmental pollution in Gazipur.

Saber said due to excessive pollution, even vegetables cannot grow in some areas of Gazipur, and fish cannot survive. The challenges here are clear, not all problems will be solved at once. If accountability is ensured, then no one can encroach on forest land or harm the environment in the future.

Dumping stations will be designated for the development of waste management. Gazipur will be developed as a model city through the overall development of the environment.
The minister said to the officials that working with transparency and coordination will improve the environment.​

 

[Saif]

Why the Himalayan Third Pole is crucial in climate governance

The Hindu Kush Himalaya region is of seminal importance to climatic changes affecting our planet.

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Why the Himalayan Third Pole is crucial in climate governance

Glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya are melting at unprecedented rates and could lose up to 75 percent of their volume by 2100. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS

The future of the Himalayan region is linked inextricably with three Cs: Climate, Connectivity, and Community. Of these, perhaps the climate cluster is primus inter pares among them; the other two feed into it as they walk hand in hand, weaving into our lives and existence, and affecting the survivability not only of our planet but also of our own species.

The UN secretary general, during a press conference at the UN in July 2023, famously said, "Humanity is in the hot seat… Climate change is here. It is terrifying. And it is just the beginning… The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived… The air is unbreathable. The heat is unbearable… And the level of fossil fuel profits and climate inaction is unacceptable.

Leaders must lead… No more hesitancy. No more excuses. No more waiting for others to move first. There is simply no more time for that."

At COP28 in Dubai, he asserted, "We are miles from the goals of the Paris Agreement—and minutes to midnight for the 1.5-degree limit… We cannot save a burning planet with a firehose of fossil fuels… So, allow me to have a message for fossil fuel company leaders: your old road is rapidly ageing. Do not double down on an obsolete business model."

The UN secretary general is perhaps the conscience of humanity, but humanity appears to be paying scant attention to him.
The Hindu Kush Himalaya region is of seminal importance to climatic changes affecting our planet. Stretching as it does 3,500 kilometres across, from China in the east to Afghanistan in the west, it is referred to by climatologists as the world's "Third Pole," because of the vast ice contained there. Together with the oceans, it comprises over 71 percent of Planet Earth. The vast forested areas scattered across our seven continents, the hills and valleys through which rivers flow and which connect the mountains to the oceans, the ice caps of the Arctic, Antarctic, and the Hindu Kush Himalaya comprise one holistic ecosystem that has sustained Planet Earth for millennia, through maintaining an equilibrium between themselves, governing the variations in the climate through a natural process of balancing air flows and precipitation cycles.

The Himalayan glaciers help sustain several major rivers in Asia. These rivers provide nearly two billion people with drinking water and irrigation systems used for farming. Additionally, they hold the potential for harvesting hydropower for millions of people living in South and Southeast Asia. They play a part in regulating the regional climate, as they influence monsoon patterns and help to ensure an ecological balance in the surrounding areas.

ALL scientific data in recent decades point to an alarming decrease in ALL these three ice poles. According to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya are melting at unprecedented rates and could lose up to 75 percent of their volume by the end of the century. Some other estimates project a higher volume of loss. This would result in dangerous flooding and water shortages for nearly two billion people who live downstream of the rivers that originate in the Himalayas, with flash floods and avalanches becoming commonplace events. This would also seriously adversely affect availability of fresh water for at least 240 million people who live in the Himalayan region, as well as 1.65 billion who live downstream of the 12 rivers originating from the Himalayas.

Current adaptation measures have proven to be grossly inadequate. Data reveal that the Mt Everest glaciers have lost 2,000 years of ice in just 30 years, while the Himalayan glaciers have disappeared 65 percent faster since 2010 than in the previous decade. These losses of glaciers, snow, and permafrost are unprecedented and perhaps largely irreversible. Glaciers across the entire Himalayan region will lose 30-50 percent of the volume by 2100 at 1.5 degrees Celsius or 2 degrees Celsius warming above pre-industrial levels. However, glaciers in eastern Himalayas, Nepal and Bhutan will likely lose up to 75 percent at 3 degrees Celsius warming and 80 percent at 4 degrees Celsius warming.

Flows in the region's 12 river basins, including the Ganges, Indus and Mekong, are likely to peak around the mid-century with adverse consequences for the more than 1.6 billion people who depend on these waters. The rise of waters in these rivers from increased glacier melt will not be manifested as a steady flow, but as possibly violent flash floods from bursting of glacier lake dams that store huge quantities of fresh water. In 2022, record high temperatures in March and April in the high peaks of Gilgit-Baltistan resulted in abnormally rapid melting of the Shisper Glacier, creating a lake that swelled and burst through a glacial dam. A torrent of water and debris flooded the valley below, damaging fields and houses, wrecking two power plants, and washing away parts of the main highway and a bridge connecting Pakistan and China. At least 200 glacier lakes are identified as being in a dangerous state and in danger of bursting. However, after the initial deluge following such outbursts, water supplies of rivers will dwindle exponentially thereafter.

The consequences of losing this cryosphere are unimaginably foreboding. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the annual mean global near-surface temperature for each year between 2023 and 2027 is predicted to be between 1.1 degrees Celsius and 1.8 degrees Celsius higher than the 1850-1900 average, skewing snowfall and rainfall patterns increasingly out of sync with seasonality, adversely affecting all life species. There are reports of yaks having died due to a lack of food in India, Nepal and Bhutan, leaving farmers with huge income losses. Other unique species also threatened by adverse changes to the climate of the diverse ecosystems include tropical and subtropical rainforests and temperate coniferous forests. Fourteen species of butterflies have already reportedly become extinct from the Murree Hills of Pakistan, while endemic frog species are among the most impacted by climate change as they experience breeding problems and developmental deformities.

The loss of the Himalayan ice cap has grave consequences, as described above, not only for the people of the Himalayan region, but also for those living in the plains and the deltaic region and the Bay of Bengal as well. It will trigger a cascading set of chain reactions adversely impacting all parameters of human security: water security, food security, health security, habitat security, and livelihood security. At the very local level in Bangladesh, which connects the Himalayan mountains with the Indian Ocean through the Bay of Bengal, our ambitious development plans, such as the Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan 2041 or the even more ambitious Delta Plan 2100, will come crashing down on us, with unimaginable consequences for the country and the region.

While climate change is a global problem, it is increasingly clear that efforts so far toward a global solution, in which every player enthusiastically participates, are not going to happen any time soon. We are all aware that the aeroplane we are on is going to crash into a mountain soon. While many countries are already working desperately to stave off disaster, woefully they all work in silos. Our ready embrace of the Westphalian model of nation-state and state sovereignty with inviolable borders led to our partitioning not only our lands but also the vast ecologically important commons that constitute our shared hydrosphere and natural commons. Most perniciously, it partitioned our very mindsets.

Commons that can only thrive and survive and continue to sustain us are dying because the ecological integrity that had held them together—the mountains, the valleys, the forestry, the wildlife—and kept them healthy for millennia, are now hostage to different versions of "resource nationalism." While European Westphalian states, from whom we blindly accepted the model of state sovereignty at our independence, learnt long ago to pool their sovereignty to manage their shared ecosystems, and in the process also arrived at innovative ways of deriving benefits from these commons without undermining their national or cultural integrity, our stubborn reluctance to go that route for fear of ceding sovereignty is actually slowly stifling the life of these ecosystems.

In South Asia, the partition of the subcontinent spawned in us this accursed "Partition Syndrome," severing connectivity that used to be the driver of trade, economic development, as well as movement of not only humans, but other species across natural migration borders, and goods and services, ideas and cultural exchanges. It is this same syndrome that keeps us prisoners from engaging in cooperation that would address our development dilemmas and also translate into climate mitigation measures of beneficial consequence for all.

We all need power as fuel for our industrial engines to chug at speed, without hiccups. While we in the region have a vast but latent, untapped reservoir of clean renewable energy that we could transition to very easily if we wanted to, we have all fallen to being heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels, which are now clearly identified as the darkest culprit in global warming, and for which we pay exorbitant costs. Our ambitions are huge, but our quick realisation of those are stymied by an acute shortage of reliable power—and our singular inability, or sheer unwillingness, to work on regional collaborative ventures.

I had once dreamt, and openly and actively espoused, that at least in the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) sub-region of the subcontinent, we could collaboratively move towards putting in place an interlinked power grid of symbiotic interdependence that would not only be derived from clean, renewable energy, but also impel us on water basin management in a holistic manner beneficial to all. But our movement in that direction has been inordinately long and slow. The recent summit level decision between Nepal and India to identify and upgrade a dedicated grid line in India to connect with Nepali, Bhutanese and Bangladeshi grids is a huge leap forward, but we need to move fast to operationalise it. Questions related to the origin of investment funds for such power projects continue to bedevil this process. They can be overcome by entering into joint venture schemes with other partners, like international development agencies or acceptable private sector, or the countries together forming a joint stock company and raising monies regionally through clean energy bonds.

We must also restore those severed connectivities, to restore trust among the partitioned peoples of the subcontinent. But we must not forget that at the heart of those connectivities are the communities of peoples who populate our lands. We must make them active participants in such activities.

While a global operational solution to our global climate disaster appears to be a stubbornly elusive dream, the myriad local and national solutions that we are striving at can be given greater relevance through synergising those activities in a collaborative manner, through cooperation across communities within the nation states, and then enlarging and expanding them to collaboration between states in the region. The new globalisation has to be a bottom-up, community-level fanning outwards, grassroots-spawned process.
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This column is based on the author's keynote address at the inaugural session of the Himalayan Future Forum Conference, held in Kathmandu, Nepal on February 16, 2024.​

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Tariq Karim is a retired ambassador of Bangladesh, and is currently the director of the Centre for Bay of Bengal Studies at Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), and concurrently distinguished visiting research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies in the National University of Singapore (NUS).​

 

[Saif]

Afforestation and forest conservation

HUMANS are mainly responsible for the current climate change and warming crisis in the world. So everyone has something to do to get rid of this crisis...

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Afforestation and forest conservation
Md Zillur Rahaman | Published: 00:00, Apr 09,2024

— UNB

HUMANS are mainly responsible for the current climate change and warming crisis in the world. So everyone has something to do to get rid of this crisis. Due to urbanisation, industrialisation and modernisation of agriculture, the environmental crisis is increasing alarmingly. But it is not at all possible to stop or reduce the speed of industrialization and urbanisation. So there is a need to try to maintain a balance between development and conservation. In this regard, forestry can play the most important and effective role. Every human can contribute to the conservation and growth of plants. So everyone should plant as many trees as possible around the house or in open spaces during the planting season every year. Only then will nature, the environment, and human life and health be good.

Many may remember that in May 2020, Super Cyclone 'Ampan' hit the coast, but the loss of life was minimal due to the Sundarbans, and it was a relief at that time. Earlier, Cyclone Bulbul on November 9, 2019, Cyclone Sidor on November 15, 2007, and Cyclone Aila on May 25, 2009, hit with devastating force but were weakened by the Sundarbans. The loss of life and property was much less than expected. The Sundarbans acted as shields and sentinels to protect the people of the south-western coast of the country and adjacent areas from natural calamities.

The Sundarbans of Bangladesh is the single largest mangrove forest in the world, located on the Bay of Bengal coast. Many say it is the Amazon of Bangladesh. Rich in biodiversity, the Sundarbans is one of the most attractive places for people all over the world. It is the favourite habitat of the Royal Bengal Tiger. The Sundarbans stands proudly after facing natural calamities like Cyclone Sidor, Aila, Fani and Bulbul. But the existence of this forest is becoming endangered. Those who have done research on this forest say that the sundarbans is one of the forces of biodiversity and environmental protection. However, the existence of the Sundarbans is threatened due to development projects and commercial activities in and around it.

Forestry protects us from the harmful effects of green house, provides essential food, supplies oxygen, keeps the environment clean by absorbing excess carbon dioxide from the air, protects the living world by purifying the harmful polluted air, provides cool shade, prevents soil erosion, organic matter in the soil, protects soil fertility by summing substance, retains adequate amount of water in the soil, provides fuel, supplies raw materials for valuable life-saving medicines, acts as a safe habitat for animals, birds and other wildlife, prevents natural disasters from storms and floods, helps in building houses and in making valuable furniture, prevents salinity, acts as an insurance in case of human accidents, keeps the soil pure and clean by absorbing harmful toxic substances from the soil, keeps the air clean, reduces the heat of the atmosphere and keeps the weather cool, absorbs air pollutants like carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, the leaves of the trees prevent the movement of storms and winds, create rain and prevent desertification, maintaining the balance of the natural environment as well as making nature magical and beautiful.

That is why more and more afforestation is very important and significant. Global warming is increasing day by day, desertification is increasing, carbon dioxide is increasing in the air, and the amount of chlorofluorocarbon, methane, and nitrous oxide, which is harmful to biodiversity, is among the problems we are constantly facing due to a lack of sufficient forest land and trees. Increasingly, the weight of the atmosphere is cracking, allowing harmful ultraviolet rays to reach Earth. Along with acid rain and rising temperatures, the sea level is rising due to the melting of ice in the polar regions and Antarctica. Bangladesh is among the most affected countries, and there is no alternative to massive afforestation.

For one, global warming has increased by 0.74 degrees Celsius over the past hundred years. If global warming continues like this, it is expected that the temperature of the earth will increase by 1.70 degrees Celsius by 2050. If the level of climate change increases like this, then nature, people and the environment will face many problems. People's rights to food security, clean water and natural resources, housing, and other infrastructure facilities will be threatened. Scientists fear that in the next 50 years, due to the increase in sea level, a large part of the coastal region of Bangladesh will disappear under the sea. Climate change will adversely affect Bangladesh's agriculture and food security, biodiversity, health, fresh water and coastal areas. Climate change will increase rainfall and floods, reduce food production by 30 per cent, increase the number of hungry and poor people, increase temperatures, and melt the Himalayan glaciers. We will face disaster.

The forest area under government control in Bangladesh is about 23 lakh hectares, which is about 15.58 per cent of the country's total area. Out of this, the amount of forest land controlled by the Forest Department is about 16 lakh hectares, which is about 10.74 per cent of the country's area. The government has time and again pledged to protect the forest land and raise it to more than 24 per cent by 2025. But, its actions speak otherwise, as the government has continued to disregard forests and the environment in its development policy. There are many instances where government agencies have grabbed forest land or allowed the construction of industries on forest land. As a result, the country's forests and wildlife are under threat today.

As the lives and livelihoods of people are directly connected with forest resources, the protection of biodiversity, nature and the environment is also inextricably linked with forest protection. For this reason, there is no alternative to extensive afforestation and the conservation of forest land.

Md Zillur Rahaman is a banker and columnist.​

 

[Saif]

Trees are Dhaka’s saviours

Things seem dire as people brace for the imminent fight against heat waves and air pollution.

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Trees are Dhaka's saviours

PHOTO: FILE PHOTO

Rising temperature is now perceived as an existential threat to humans. In recent years, heatwaves in European countries such as Greece, Italy, Spain, France, and the UK have resulted in numerous deaths and wildfires. In Bangladesh, we experienced extreme heat last year, leading the government to shut down primary schools as temperatures surged over 40°C in June. According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, the temperature broke a 58-year record in Dhaka city.

With heatwaves becoming more frequent and prolonged, there will be more severe impacts in cities like Dhaka where buildings are densely packed together and the number of trees and amount of greenery are dwindling.

Although the rising temperature has a global effect on liveability and poses threats to species worldwide, the impact of temperature increase in urban areas is likely to be magnified multiple times compared to other areas, due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect—a phenomenon characterised by higher temperatures in cities compared to surrounding rural areas.

According to an article published in Theoretical and Applied Climatology, temperatures in some areas of Dhaka are 3°C higher than in its boundary areas, and the warmest and coldest temperatures in Dhaka city are approximately 7°C and 5°C higher than outside the city. This temperature difference is mainly attributed to the higher number of heat-absorbing surfaces, less tree coverage in the city, and anthropogenic waste heat (from industry, cars, cooling systems, and others).

Increasing tree canopies have been used the world over as a crucial tool to control urban heat by leveraging the natural characteristics of trees. Trees can help regulate temperature in two main ways: 1) by providing shade, which blocks direct sunlight from reaching the surface; and 2) through evapotranspiration, which acts as a cooling process. Therefore, maintaining a liveable and comfortable temperature in cities by increasing tree canopies and protecting existing ones should be a key concern for urban planners and policymakers
In efforts to protect and monitor trees, there is a need for a proper database of tree canopies.

Recently, the Geographic Research Unit of Bengal Institute undertook a pioneering initiative to map the tree canopies in Dhaka city, preparing a comprehensive and detailed database for all the tree canopies in the city. According to this study, the total canopy cover of Dhaka city is 4,169 hectares, accounting for 13.71 percent of the total area of the city. Tree canopy coverage is higher in areas under Dhaka North City Corporation, approximately 15.39 percent, while only 10.31 percent of trees are present in Dhaka South City Corporation areas.

Experts suggest that a minimum of 25 percent tree coverage is needed for a city to be considered liveable. Nearby mega-cities present disappointing figures as well. Kolkata has lost 30 percent of its tree coverage in just 10 years, leaving only 1.8 percent of tree coverage in 2021, as reported by The Times of India. For Bangkok, the percentage is nearly 5.2 percent, according to Global Forest Watch. If we look at European cities, those well-known for liveability have higher percentages of trees. For example, Oslo has 72 percent, Bern has 53 percent, Berlin has 44 percent, and Madrid, Brussels, and Vienna have 39 percent, 37 percent, and 34 percent, respectively, of tree coverage. Trees claim to have overwhelmingly positive effects on human health in these cities, where programmes to increase greenery, as well as efforts to maintain it, are operational.

Despite their significant environmental benefits, trees are facing the harshest blow in Dhaka city. With the increasing number of heat-absorbing surfaces (buildings, pavements, roads, and impervious surfaces), greenery is decreasing. Trees are being felled mercilessly to accommodate development activities in Dhaka and, on many occasions, for the commercial benefits of a few. In recent times, this cruelty towards trees has been evident on Satmasjid Road in the capital's Dhanmondi area, where hundreds of trees were reportedly felled for road divider renovation.

In May 2021, a similar incident occurred in the historic Suhrawardy Uddyan, where hundreds of old trees were cut down to make way for seven restaurants, a flower market, toilet facilities, and a children's park—all in the name of development and public service. While many believe that the design could have been altered to preserve trees in the area, commercial profits took precedence over the environment. This incident was protested by numerous environmental activist groups, and a writ petition was filed to halt the tree felling. However, reportedly there was a brazen flouting of the high court order, and the continued felling of trees persisted.

In some instances, deforestation is happening on a much bigger scale. According to the Bangladesh Environment Lawyers' Association (Bela), 1,100,000 trees have been cut to facilitate 2,000 plots at Purbachal, meaning an average of 550 trees of different sizes were felled to prepare a single plot. The majority of the trees cut were sal trees, and despite the requirement for special permission to cut sal trees, none was obtained during the tree felling for the plots.

The scenario does not look good for trees and the livability of Dhaka city, as deforestation is an ongoing process happening openly during daylight. The lack of initiative to protect greenery, coupled with negligence from the respective authorities, is likely to exacerbate the condition of greenery in Dhaka City. Things seem dire as people brace for the imminent fight against heat waves and air pollution. Infrastructure development at the cost of trees will not be sustainable and healthy. Among numerous problems in Dhaka city, trees could provide us with breathing space in this concrete forest, acting as lights at the end of the tunnel. The question now is: are we willing enough to reach that end, or will we simply lay back and witness the destruction of the trees, and turn this city into a hostile place to live?​

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Bandhan Dhar and Sanjoy Roy are research and design associate and coordinator of the Geographic Research Unit (GRU) respectively, at the Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes, and Settlements in Dhaka, Bangladesh.​

 

[Saif]

Forester's murder in Cox’s Bazar: Mastermind among 2 arrested

Members of the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) have arrested two people including the alleged mastermind behind the killing of forest officer Sazzaduzzaman in Cox’s Bazar

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Forester's murder in Cox's Bazar: Mastermind among 2 arrested

Members of the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) have arrested two people including the alleged mastermind behind the killing of forest officer Sazzaduzzaman in Cox's Bazar.

The arrestees are Kamal Uddin, 39, of Harinmara area in Cox's Bazar's Ukhiya upazila and Helal Uddin, 27, of Tuturbil area of the same upazila, reports our Cox's Bazar staff correspondent.

Kamal was arrested from Sitakunda of Chattogram while Helal was arrested from Kotbazar area of Ukhiya yesterday in separate drives, said Lt Col HM Sajjad Hossain, commanding officer (CO) of Rab-15 in a press briefing today.

Sajjad said the forest officer was killed in a pre-planned way. The arrestees plotted the murder as Sazzaduzzaman prevented them from cutting hills and selling soil.

During the primary interrogation, the arrestees revealed that a gang led by local Kamal, Helal, Gafur, and Babul in the Harinmara area has been illegally cutting hills of reserved forest lands and selling soil for a long time.

"There are about 10/12 dumpers and a few dredgers under the gang. They used to cut the hill in the dark of the night and sell it for Tk 900 to 1,200 per dump truck," the Rab official said.

"Sazzaduzzaman, a beat officer of Dochhari forest beat of Ukhiya range under Cox's Bazar South Forest Division, was known as a brave and honest officer. He conducted several drives, seized five earth-cutting dredgers and several dumpers, and filed several cases under the Forest Act against the criminals involved in the hill cutting" he added.

One of the seized dump trucks belonged to the arrested Kamal, said the official.

On March 31, Sazzaduzzaman tried to stop a dump truck carrying stolen earth from a razed hill at Harinmara reserve forest in Ukhiya of Cox's Bazar when the truck ran over him and left him dead on the spot.​

 

[Saif]

Climate change: Apathy and cluelessness

Most human beings are unaware of most of the potential disasters that may wipe out mankind. This is natural because human beings don't think they are responsible for their own actions and consider nature as separate. It's perceived as external. Thus humans are unable to comprehend complex disaster

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Climate change: Apathy and cluelessness
AFSAN CHOWDHURY
Published :
Apr 15, 2024 21:48
Updated :
Apr 16, 2024 21:23
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Most human beings are unaware of most of the potential disasters that may wipe out mankind. This is natural because human beings don't think they are responsible for their own actions and consider nature as separate. It's perceived as external.

Thus humans are unable to comprehend complex disasters like climate change caused by their own cumulative actions. Earthquakes, floods, heat waves etc., are much easier to grasp by their simple mind. It's beyond their capacity to understand that those very disasters could be caused by causes more complex than the so-called "natural "causes". The result has been global disregard for the issue of climate change and impending disaster. People don't even know what it is and how it impacts on their life, let alone create political pressures for their collective survival.

Not that it matters as ruling classes everywhere consider themselves immune to the baneful effects of climate change. Thus we have a lot of words, including those churned out at the global level, but not much else. The UN Climate chief has recently said that there are only two years left to take actions before the window for acting against global disaster shuts. One supposes it's time to get ready for the "end of the world" as we know it and which we never expect to happen.

The UN Chief's words are important but reflect the position of leaders who speak without power and represent the ineffectual. Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has said that the next two years are "essential in saving our planet". Otherwise the climate changes status and future scenario. And he was addressing politicians, business leaders and the rest of those who are supposed to matter unlike the UN.

Scientists say halving climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 is crucial to stop a rise in temperatures of more than 1.5 Celsius that would unleash more extreme weather and heat. However, last year, the world's energy-related CO2 emissions increased to a record high. Current commitments to fight climate change would be grossly inadequate to manage global emissions by any count by the critical year of 2030.

All hope is not entirely lost but time has certainly run out. "We still have a chance to make greenhouse gas emissions tumble, with a new generation of national climate plans. But we need these stronger plans, now, "Simon said. So where does the problem lie? It's very simple. Only 20 leading economic powers are responsible for 80 per cent of global emissions and that sort of explains the entire scenario. And they don't have to listen to anyone.

These 20 countries basically run the world and decide what is going to happen and where. These super countries if you will have all the power in the world whether it's the US or China and they are hardly about to think about to back down let alone try to figure out how it's done. It's not about a good state or a bad state but preserving its status and capacity and it doesn't matter how that has to be done.

The UN keeps setting priorities which the world happily ignores. But it's not just bad intentions or selfishness but also inability to know how it's done. Nobody has any practical ideas about how to retain or reach prosperity without increasing carbon gasses and that is driving the reality of global policy application.

Many are asking why the UN's climate change reduction policies aren't working. The UN's principal objective is for its members to agree to a new target for climate finance "to support developing countries struggling to invest in shifting away from fossil fuels and fighting climate change."

The UN says that objectives can be achieved through several means such as debt relief, cheaper financing for economically weaker countries, developing new sources of financing such as tax on emissions reforms of international financial institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

"Every day finance ministers, CEOs, investors, and climate bankers and development bankers direct trillions of dollars. It's time to shift those dollars," said the UN climate change related boss. He has been pushing for reforming capital requirements and expansion of its use of Climate Resilient Debt Clauses, which suspends debt repayments in the event of natural disasters in the WB and the IMF.

So far none have paid much attention and there is no evidence to show that they are likely to listen to the UN soon.

The situation may not be particularly different at the national level whether Bangladesh or elsewhere. Researchers and activists have pointed out the woefully inadequate management of projects and priorities.

Governments are more active at the international level seeking funds which goes to the ministries. But what happens at the operational level is rarely discussed other than blanket statements about "projects completed". Nor does anyone say about the impact of completion.

Once as a media panel member of a major anti-corruption outfit, we saw incredible levels of corruption in this sector. It basically means that projects are funded but they are not really useful except for making a lot of money by some.

However, it bothers none as the powerful behave locally and internationally the same way. As a result the situation has become unchangeable and the damages in many cases irreversible. There is little evidence that the situation is about to change.

Like it or not, we are seeing the same power-gain model at work. The powerful countries ignore the plight of the poorer countries, and in the poorer countries, the top elite ignores the powerless.​

 

[Saif]

Climate change to wreck global income by 2050: study

Researchers in Germany estimate that climate change will shrink global GDP at least 20% by 2050. Scientists said that figure would worsen if countries fail to meet emissions-cutting targets

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Climate change to wreck global income by 2050: study

Photo: Deutsche Welle

A study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) published in the scientific journal Nature on Wednesday claimed that climate change is poised to wipe out some 20% of global GDP by 2050.

Researchers at PIK said their calculations were based on the prospect of countries such as Germany achieving their emissions-cutting goals. Currently, most countries look unlikely to achieve these targets, meaning the financial impact could be greater still than the drastic damage projected.

According to the study's calculations, the economic burden of climate change could reach $38 trillion (€35.6 trillion) annually, a sum six times higher than the estimated cost of limiting global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Those least at fault will be hit hardest

The study points out that despite damage affecting different regions to different degrees, poorer regions and those contributing least to global warming will be hit hardest.

"Countries least responsible for climate change are predicted to suffer income loss that is 60% greater than the higher-income countries and 40% greater than higher-emission countries," said Anders Levermann, a senior PIK scientist.

Researchers projected, for instance, that the industrial economies of Germany and the United States would shrink by roughly 11% by mid-century (13% for France), even if climate action is successfully taken.

PIK scientists analyzed 40 years of climate data collected across more than 1,600 regions for the study, they excluded, however, the cost of damage caused by natural disasters such as storms and fires, which have also intensified with climate change. These would drive damages significantly higher.

"High-income losses are projected for most regions, including North America and Europe, with South Asia and Africa being the hardest hit," according to Maximilian Kotz, one of the study's authors. "These losses are caused by a wide range of economically relevant effects of climate change, such as consequences for agricultural yields, labor productivity and infrastructure."

Inaction still costs more — 60% of GDP by 2100

Fellow researcher Leonie Wenz underscored the danger of complacency, noting that the current calculations dealt with the effects of carbon already released into the atmosphere, pointing out that society quickly needs to find ways to mitigate the impact of climate change.

"In addition, we must drastically and immediately reduce our CO2 emissions — otherwise the economic losses will be even higher in the second half of the century and will amount to a global average of up to 60% by the end of the century," she said.

According to the World Bank, global GDP surpassed $100 trillion in 2022 and would double by 2050 — if not for the drag of climate change.

Observers say the PIK estimate is likely an undercount of the actual economic impact.

Others pointed out that the new study appears to confirm conclusions similar to those in the so-called Stern Report, which was produced by economist Nicholas Stern in 2006 at the behest of the UK government.

Stern, too, projected that climate change would take a 20% bite out of global GDP by the middle of the century, as well as arguing that the cost of combatting climate change was far less than the cost of dealing with the damage it would cause.​

 

[Saif]

Chattogram keeps losing its hills to greed

What are the relevant agencies doing about it?

www.thedailystar.net

Chattogram keeps losing its hills to greed
What are the relevant agencies doing about it?

Visual: Star

A photo on the front page of this paper yesterday showed the brutal and indiscriminate destruction of Nagin Pahar, a large hill in Chattogram. Chopped off from the top by local influentials, it has lost a large chunk of its height to make way for the construction of residential buildings. This relentless hill cutting in Chattogram has been going on for decades, destroying the natural beauty of this scenic city with devastating consequences. Apart from the loss of greenery and the habitat of hundreds of birds and plant species, when hills are cut the risk of landslides is increased, often leading to human deaths.

The spree of real estate development has taken a heavy toll on these precious hills cleared away for construction. In the last four decades, around 120 hills out of 200 have disappeared from Chattogram city. So how is this killing spree of hills being allowed to go on unabated? In 2012, despite multiple court orders to protect the hills of Chattogram area, one of which specifically mentioned those in the Akbar Shah area, a hill was cut. In 2023, a councillor of Chattogram City Corporation destroyed parts of a hill to build a primary school in the Akbar Shah area. According to a report in this paper, over several years he made plots by cutting the hills and selling them to people. He did this without any permission from the Department of Environment (DoE) which is mandatory. The DoE has filed cases against the councillor for destroying the hills. But the question is, how did he get away with it for so many years?

Unfortunately, the government bodies responsible for protecting these hills, have done precious little to prevent their demise. The Chattogram City Corporation, district administration, and the DoE seem to instead have allowed influentials to carry on cutting one hill after another. Thus, despite the persistent endeavours of environmental activists to stop hill cutting and in spite of the court's orders, the killing of hills continues.

Unless the government takes serious steps to enforce the law and hold its agencies responsible for enforcing it accountable, as well as appropriately punishes violators, we may have to witness Chattogram city being reduced to a flat land with concrete high-rises all over the skyline where once there were lush green hills.​