The recently adopted UN General Assembly Resolution, requesting an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the obligations of states with respect to climate change, recognises the link between climate change and the displacement of affected persons. Bangladesh's Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said this while speaking at a panel discussion organized by IOM during its 2023 International Dialogue on Migration held at the United Nations Headquarters. Expressing concern over the inadequate action of the international community on the protection of persons displaced by climate change and associated disasters, he urged to scale up global actions including climate financing.
Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change in the world. Here the curse of climate change hits in the forms of rising sea level, natural disasters, economic breakdown, prolonged monsoon, frequent changes in weather pattern and temperature and so on. Reportedly, salinity, rising sea levels and other adverse climate impacts could cause as many as 13.3 million people to leave their homes in the coastal areas of Bangladesh by 2050.
It is time to increase the investment in
policies and programmes to protect
people from environmental risks
induced by climate change
There is strong evidence that deteriorating environments caused by climate change are driving millions of people to resort to mass migration in their search for a better life, both within countries and across borders. Human settlements have been affected in Bangladesh due to extreme climate events over past years. One of the most adverse and prolonged impact of climate change in Bangladesh has been observed in the form of climate migration. It is apprehended that by 2050, one in every seven people in Bangladesh will be displaced by climate change.
Hence, we should realise the need for formulating coherent and research-backed policy, legal and institutional framework to address climate migration. We need to devise immediate measurers to protect people from environmental risks and stop unwanted migration due to climate change.
It is time to increase the investment in policies and programmes to protect people from environmental risks induced by climate change. There is a need to prioritise the districts vulnerable to climate change and establish a district-level funding mechanism focusing on capacity building of women, young people and
children.
The world is now going through a situation where the most vulnerable countries, which deserve the highest level of priority, are failing to access support that is being realised. Major emitters show extreme reluctance on mitigation, which may wreck the international climate regime and put the climate vulnerable countries like Bangladesh at peril.
As developed countries are accountable for the severe consequences of climate change, they must provide with necessary financial, technological and intellectual support to the developing countries following the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change. Moreover, developing countries like Bangladesh need a global commitment to face climate challenges.
